Coming soon, another new party of the Left

Assemble, Aspire and Transform!

Last week the 800 or so members of Transform received a newsletter about what was going on in the bowels of another organisation called Collective. The Transform newsletter was headed UPDATE ON DEVELOPMENTS REGARDING CREATION OF A NEW LEFT PARTY and essentially told readers that something was happening, but they couldn’t say what.

Collective is an organisation describing itself as “the engine that will drive the formation of a new, mass-membership political party of the left in the UK”. It was set up after last year’s election and “brought together” a series of groups listed as “Aspire, Transform, Reliance, Assemble & Just Stop Oil, The Muslim Vote, TUSC [the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition], TWT [don’t tempt me], For the Many, Liverpool Community Independents and similar independent parties and groups from across the UK.”

The spirit that drives the engine that will drive the formation of the new party is that of - according to the Collective website - “’Corbynism’ that can now be seen in the UK-wide mobilisation, at all levels, in opposition to Labour’s rightward and authoritarian turn.” And driving the spirit that drives the engine that drives the… etc are a trio of Corbyn associates, including his old chief of staff Karie Murphy and her partner, the former Unite general secretary, Len McCluskey.

Last autumn as it became clear that Labour was not going to enjoy either a honeymoon or an easy ride in office, there was a lot of talk about the creation of yet another party of the Left. Transform had actually set itself up to be that party but, as it rather poignantly reminded supporters last week, “by our founding conference, it had become apparent that we had not achieved enough sign-ups, members or media recognisable personalities to be, by ourselves, the core of a mass membership party.” Adding, disappointingly that, “the reasons for this are beyond the scope of this piece”. But not beyond the scope of THIS piece as you will see.

Waiting for Jeremy

In November and December several well-informed articles appeared in magazines and newspapers predicting a new Corbyn vehicle to capitalise on the government’s inevitable unpopularity. Then nothing happened. 2024 went and winter gave way to spring, the first great national test of electoral popularity loomed, and still nothing. The occasional disappointed splitter from the project went public to nobody-in-particular lamenting that one problem was Corbyn’s reluctance to commit. Or, as Transform puts it…

There has been a measure of concern about the time all this is taking, and the secrecy of it. We share some of that and have raised the urgency of something being launched. However, there will only be one shot at this, and it is understandable that those lending their political reputation to it want it to be properly prepared.

But now…

…we are guardedly optimistic that real progress is now being made toward establishment of a mass membership party with a strong national profile. We can’t say more than this now, because it’s crucial that news of this breaks at the right time and in the right way; but be ready to respond.

Jeremy, it seems has jumped, presumably bringing with him some of those talented organisers and social media savants who helped him to triumph in two Labour leadership elections. It’s too late for the May elections but after that a new party is about to be born. Or should I say yet another new party. Still, what can you not achieve when you bring Assemble, Aspire and Transform together?

Jeremiah Jones

It’s against this background that Guardian readers should revisit a recent column by the second most famous Leftist in Britain, Owen Jones. Just at the moment that Corbyn prepares either to assume the leadership of a new party or to determine who does, Jones (who last year set up his own organisation called We Deserve Better, which I presume he wanted to work together with the comrades of Aspire, Transform and Assemble) bemoaning the absence of any convincing leader on the Left – yes, he was looking at you, Jeremy - and suggested what kind of person was needed and what kind of approach they would be required to adopt.