Between 110,000 and 150,000 people marched against immigration in London on September 13, in Britain鈥檚 biggest far-right protest this century. The 鈥淯nite the Kingdom鈥 march was organised by far-right, anti-immigrant Islamophobe Tommy Robinson (Stephen Yaxley-Lennon). The march followed a series of racist protests over the past three months outside hotels housing asylum seekers.
The anti-immigration march comes as support grows for the far-right, anti-immigrant Reform UK party. A recent poll predicted if a general election were held now Labour would lose its majority and Reform UK would win the largest bloc of seats in a hung parliament.
A few days before the September 13 rally, 麻豆传媒 spoke to Derek Wall, a former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales and a prominent ecosocialist, academic and writer, about developments on the left there, specifically the recent leadership election in the Greens and the Your Party initiative by former Labor Party figures Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana.
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With Labour moving further to the right, and Farage and Reform on the rise, what are the electoral prospects for the left? Are there more openings for grassroots mobilisations around a radical ecosocialist and internationalist politics?
At the last general election, where the first-past-the-post system makes it difficult for smaller parties to win, the Green Party went from one Member of Parliament to four. Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, was also elected as an independent MP and anti-war candidates won in a number of seats.
The next general election is likely to be in 2029, so things can change, but the Greens and other left-wing candidates could make a breakthrough and win up to 50 constituencies. This would transform the electoral landscape. It is even possible that [Labour Prime Minister] Keir Starmer would be defeated in his Holborn and St Pancras constituency, where Andrew Feinstein, a socialist independent candidate, came second in last year鈥檚 general election.
Like Australia, we have had massive demonstrations against the genocide in Gaza. The mobilisations for peace and international solidarity could fuel wider political change. Something like 1000 people, many of them pensioners, have been recently arrested for supporting Palestine Action.
Palestine Action is a direct action group that sabotages factories making weapons for Israel. It has, bizarrely, been listed as a terrorist organisation, leading to major protests of support here.
With the new Greens leadership and Corbyn and Sultana about to form a new left party, what are the prospects for collaboration and/or electoral pacts between the Greens and Corbyn/Sultana's party?
There has been a huge surge interest in 鈥淵our Party鈥, the current label for the Corbyn and Sultana party. Both Corbyn and Sultana are important figures and, so far, more than 800,0000 people have signed up for their organisation.
Hundreds of local councillors and other significant figures have been expelled from the Labour Party in areas including Liverpool, Newcastle and Preston and local left groups have formed organisations and successfully contested local elections.
Zack Polanski has recently been elected the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer have also been elected this Summer as co-leaders of the Scottish Green Party. All three are on the left.
Polanski鈥檚 victory is especially remarkable. He gained an astonishing 85% of the vote from Green Party members. He defeated two sitting MPs, backed by Caroline Lucas. Lucas is a former MP and party leader and, until recently, was the best-known figure in the party.
Polanski is charismatic and a brilliant strategist. He is explicitly committed to building a wider left challenge. He was congratulated on his victory by Corbyn. Polanski will work to overturn the Greens current opposition to electoral pacts and is keen that the Greens work with the wider left electorally.
How this works in practice will, of course, be influenced by how successful the new Corbyn/Sultana party is. However, even at this stage, there are many constituencies where a Green-Left electoral pact could deliver victory.
Are we seeing a seismic shift to the left in British politics?
Sadly not yet! The far right is gaining the most from disillusionment with the dominant parties. Support for the Labour government has fallen month by month, to barely 20% of voters. The Conservative Party is even less popular.
The British electoral landscape is being transformed, but the far-right Reform Party, which is closely linked to United States President Donald Trump, is consistently ahead in the polls. It is winning local elections and, if it sustains its lead, will win the next general election. From the North of Ireland to fighting climate change this will have catastrophic consequences.
However Polanski, unlike the Starmer government, is strongly challenging the far right, especially calling out its racism and support for the super rich. He has only been in post for a couple of weeks, but potentially could boost the left.
Likewise 鈥淵our Party鈥 is very recent and will take time to set up formal structures and organise. Thus, the left outside of Labour is growing and could potentially transform politics. The discontent which has, so far, been exploited by the far right, might instead be harnessed by the left.