Snap General Election called - The new UK Politics thread

[Stom]

Sounds like a clusterfuck from all directions, tbh - Sultana boycotted day 1 because Corbyn et al banned a chunk of her supporters from being part of the party under very shaky pretences (a rule which didn't appear to apply to them and has subsequently been repealed at the convention). Very much gives the impression of the experienced organiser Corbyn using nous and procedure to bury a rival - her very public response makes her look naive and unprofessional, he looks dastardly and engaging in traditional leftie-on-leftie-violence, and neither of them look like they should be trusted with running a 20 yard dash, let alone a political party.

It is impressive that they've sorted out having wings to infight with before they've even worked out any policies.

Puja

Honestly...I don't understand why you would vote for YP when the Greens are available? They are just a clusterfuck, and offer no real solutions other than infighting.

Corbyn has shown his level, where he is at, and, honestly, it's not good. It's out of touch, and it's not nice, either.

For me, unless there is an early election, I won't be able to vote next time round anyway...

Indeed. They had a chance to become the new Left wing party if they had moved quicker and got themselves set up and vaguely competent before the Green party leadership election, but now Polanski has very firmly established the Greens as a genuine political forc. As a result, I'm not really sure what unfulfilled niche YP think they need to serve (aside from Corbyn's ego, of course).

I suspect Sultana will probably end up quitting in frustration/when Corbyn inevitably throws trans people under the bus to placate the Independent Alliance MPs and will end up joining the Greens, who do fit her values fairly well. Jamie Driscoll (ex-North of Tyne mayor, fairly influential figure in the Labour left until stitched up and forced out by Starmer, and part of the group behind the organising and founding of Your Party) has already gone that route and I can't see Sultana lasting much longer.

Incidentally, I am impressed with some of the work that the Greens are doing to acquire competent people. As Reform have demonstrated with their racists, incompetents, teenagers, or just plan paper candidates getting elected as councillors and fucking everything up, the hardest part of being an insurgent political party is getting together enough competent people to stand as candidates for election. The Greens already have a large bank of people who have been with the party and working in local politics for decades, but they're also poaching a lot of figures from the left of Labour - not outright MPs (yet, although I suspect some will be coming if Starmer doesn't pull out of his death spiral of appeasing Reform), but councillors, local organisers, potential MPs who were deselected and blocked by Starmer's clique. Whether it'll be enough, I don't know, but it's at least showing forward thinking.

Puja

The problem is that Corbyn seemingly has it in his head that he’s electable, when if he hadn’t been Labour leader, he wouldn’t have been. When it’s just him, it’s not like he’s Bernie Sanders… he’s literally the definition of what is wrong with the left.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Honestly...I don't understand why you would vote for YP when the Greens are available? They are just a clusterfuck, and offer no real solutions other than infighting.

Corbyn has shown his level, where he is at, and, honestly, it's not good. It's out of touch, and it's not nice, either.

For me, unless there is an early election, I won't be able to vote next time round anyway...

Indeed. They had a chance to become the new Left wing party if they had moved quicker and got themselves set up and vaguely competent before the Green party leadership election, but now Polanski has very firmly established the Greens as a genuine political forc. As a result, I'm not really sure what unfulfilled niche YP think they need to serve (aside from Corbyn's ego, of course).

I suspect Sultana will probably end up quitting in frustration/when Corbyn inevitably throws trans people under the bus to placate the Independent Alliance MPs and will end up joining the Greens, who do fit her values fairly well. Jamie Driscoll (ex-North of Tyne mayor, fairly influential figure in the Labour left until stitched up and forced out by Starmer, and part of the group behind the organising and founding of Your Party) has already gone that route and I can't see Sultana lasting much longer.

Incidentally, I am impressed with some of the work that the Greens are doing to acquire competent people. As Reform have demonstrated with their racists, incompetents, teenagers, or just plan paper candidates getting elected as councillors and fucking everything up, the hardest part of being an insurgent political party is getting together enough competent people to stand as candidates for election. The Greens already have a large bank of people who have been with the party and working in local politics for decades, but they're also poaching a lot of figures from the left of Labour - not outright MPs (yet, although I suspect some will be coming if Starmer doesn't pull out of his death spiral of appeasing Reform), but councillors, local organisers, potential MPs who were deselected and blocked by Starmer's clique. Whether it'll be enough, I don't know, but it's at least showing forward thinking.

Puja

The problem is that Corbyn seemingly has it in his head that he’s electable, when if he hadn’t been Labour leader, he wouldn’t have been. When it’s just him, it’s not like he’s Bernie Sanders… he’s literally the definition of what is wrong with the left.

YP has squandered much of its potential into that brief window before Polanski got himself started (mostly IMO because of Sultana). However:

1) The conference was not the shambles the media enjoyed portraying it as,
2) There's a very interesting experiment in democratic politics taking place in YP which may yet lead to interesting places,
3) YP may well fit a useful niche of picking up the harder left, working class and Muslim votes which the Greens might not be able to reach,
4) IF IF IF YP and the Greens can work together, they might be a force.

Clearly (okay . . . IMO) the Greens are the sensible voting option for the left at the moment. I would vote Green in a GE tomorrow. But the GE is years away and by that point things could change making either a more left-wing Labour party or YP better options.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Shock: Labour have an animal welfare policy I agree with:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/ ... es-england

[Sandydragon]

Indeed. They had a chance to become the new Left wing party if they had moved quicker and got themselves set up and vaguely competent before the Green party leadership election, but now Polanski has very firmly established the Greens as a genuine political forc. As a result, I'm not really sure what unfulfilled niche YP think they need to serve (aside from Corbyn's ego, of course).

I suspect Sultana will probably end up quitting in frustration/when Corbyn inevitably throws trans people under the bus to placate the Independent Alliance MPs and will end up joining the Greens, who do fit her values fairly well. Jamie Driscoll (ex-North of Tyne mayor, fairly influential figure in the Labour left until stitched up and forced out by Starmer, and part of the group behind the organising and founding of Your Party) has already gone that route and I can't see Sultana lasting much longer.

Incidentally, I am impressed with some of the work that the Greens are doing to acquire competent people. As Reform have demonstrated with their racists, incompetents, teenagers, or just plan paper candidates getting elected as councillors and fucking everything up, the hardest part of being an insurgent political party is getting together enough competent people to stand as candidates for election. The Greens already have a large bank of people who have been with the party and working in local politics for decades, but they're also poaching a lot of figures from the left of Labour - not outright MPs (yet, although I suspect some will be coming if Starmer doesn't pull out of his death spiral of appeasing Reform), but councillors, local organisers, potential MPs who were deselected and blocked by Starmer's clique. Whether it'll be enough, I don't know, but it's at least showing forward thinking.

Puja

The problem is that Corbyn seemingly has it in his head that he’s electable, when if he hadn’t been Labour leader, he wouldn’t have been. When it’s just him, it’s not like he’s Bernie Sanders… he’s literally the definition of what is wrong with the left.

YP has squandered much of its potential into that brief window before Polanski got himself started (mostly IMO because of Sultana). However:

1) The conference was not the shambles the media enjoyed portraying it as,
2) There's a very interesting experiment in democratic politics taking place in YP which may yet lead to interesting places,
3) YP may well fit a useful niche of picking up the harder left, working class and Muslim votes which the Greens might not be able to reach,
4) IF IF IF YP and the Greens can work together, they might be a force.

Clearly (okay . . . IMO) the Greens are the sensible voting option for the left at the moment. I would vote Green in a GE tomorrow. But the GE is years away and by that point things could change making either a more left-wing Labour party or YP better options.

Polanski was interviewed by The Rest Is Politics and came off very badly. If he wants to be taken seriously towards the business end of a parliament then he needs to be able to field some basic probing questions.