Left Unity and Your Party: A New Era for Britain’s Left

Since the British Labour Party embraced neo-liberal economic policies in the 1990s, and ceased to be the defender of working class interests and the welfare state, Britain has been without a mass party of the working class. There have been a number of attempts to bring together left-wing forces that could build such an organisation, but some specific factors have made that very difficult to achieve. In particular, the first-past-the-post electoral system has presented a problem: smaller parties have found it almost impossible to break into the mainstream, as a vote for a small party has been seen as a wasted vote. In addition, the historical development of the Labour Party, founded by the trade unions, has still held a residual attraction to some on the left, in spite of its shocking record over the last decades.

It was this lack of a political alternative to neo-liberalism that led to the foundation of Left Unity in 2013. The radical popular wave that swept across Europe after the financial crisis of 2008, bringing mass opposition to brutal austerity policies, led to a surge of support for the radical left. Left Unity was able to harness this energy in Britain, in a very modest way, but the traditional blocking factors mentioned above, prevented us from developing at the scale necessary for bringing real change to British politics. The scenario changed in a remarkable way in 2015. The Labour Party elected a new leader, Jeremy Corbyn, a left Labour MP with a strong track record in the movements, with the promise of bringing change to British politics. Many from across the left, including from Left Unity, migrated to the Labour Party to support Corbyn.

Five years later, in spite of significant popular support, establishment attacks on the Corbyn leadership succeeded in ousting him from power. Many urged him to form a new party, but he chose not to do this, instead remaining a Labour MP, until in 2024 he was barred from standing for Labour and stood instead as an Independent candidate and won. The 2024 election was very significant in a number of ways, marking the first major breakdown in the first-past-the-post blockage to progressive forces. The key to this change was the mass popular support for the Palestinian cause, and public outrage at the failure of the main political parties to oppose the genocide and stop giving military and political support to the Israeli government. A remarkable ‘No Ceasefire, No Vote’ movement arose, led by local councillors who had left the Labour Party and were now sitting as Independents. The purpose was to support the Palestinian cause at the ballot box: not to vote for any candidate who had not called for a ceasefire in Gaza. As a result, not only Jeremy Corbyn was elected as an Independent, but four others too, and they were joined the following year by Zarah Sultana MP who resigned from Labour.

It was this outcome which generated the impetus for the founding of a new party – Your Party – in 2025. Your Party has had a difficult founding process, with differences among the leadership, and amongst supporters, largely over internal democracy, and the role of other left organisations within it. Nevertheless, with a membership of around 50,000, it remains the largest left party in Britain, since the mass support for the Communist Party in the immediate post-world war two period. It has significant political potential, and its policies and values are compatible with those of Left Unity. So Left Unity decided at its Annual Conference in April 2026, to apply for affiliated status.

That application has now been successful – we are the first party to do so. We remain an independent party, and an associated member of the European Left Party, while having huge opportunities for political cooperation and development alongside Your Party. We will make the most of the opportunity.