9 February 2026 [republished 10 September 2026]
First published by the Bolshevik Caucus in Your Party on substack.com/@bolshevikcaucus, republished on bolshevik.org.
Finally, Your Party is getting close to electing a leadership. The second round of the elections for the Central Executive Committee (CEC) opens today, with all candidates who received over 75 nominations on the ballot. The highest totals were dominated by two slates: The Many, endorsed by Jeremy Corbyn, and the Grassroots Left, backed by Zarah Sultana. In some regions, significant numbers of independents also reached the threshold.
Although exact figures have not been released for those who didn’t get through, we believe that Barbara, our Bolshevik Caucus candidate, received about 50 nominations and was the highest polling unsuccessful candidate in the South East region (13 out of 46). She was supported by comrades in her local Oxford branch (where she is on the temporary organising committee) and by others who read and liked our Bolshevik Caucus Platform, including supporters of the Grassroots Left (GL), who stood only one candidate for the two places in the South East.
In the nominations round we also called for a critical vote to the Grassroots Left. Unlike many other candidates with little in the way of programme, the GL platform spoke out against capitalism, imperialism and Zionism, although it failed to call for the defeat of British imperialism abroad and the participation of British workers in that defeat through blocking arms manufacture and transportation. The GL platform declared opposition to holding governmental power except on a socialist programme, but (as we noted in a letter to the Weekly Worker, 22 January 2026) “does not explain that the capitalist state cannot be used to bring about socialism, which requires replacing parliament, the police and the military with democratic organs of working-class rule”.
Our letter also cautioned that the criteria for this “socialist programme” are unclear: “We would hope it excludes an electoral deal or power-sharing with the Greens, but, given that GL endorses Michael Lavalette, who is in a coalition with the Greens in the official opposition on Lancashire County Council, this is far from certain.”
Then the Gorton and Denton by-election entered the scene to put this to the test. A demographically mixed parliamentary seat on the edge of Manchester won by Labour in 2024, it is facing a strong challenge from both Reform and the Greens, leaving results difficult to predict. George Galloway’s Workers Party (10% in 2024) has stood down in favour of the Greens. With polls closing on 26 February, the contest is running parallel to the Your Party CEC election.
Your Party has failed to put up a candidate in Gorton and Denton, which raises two key issues.
First, it could have been different. Greater Manchester comrades have expressed understandably mixed feelings about whether it was possible to stand. If branches had been established months ago, with proper technical support, funding and access to full membership lists, and if the party had carried out democratic discussion of electoral platforms and policy, we are sure that local members would have been a lot more confident about flying the Your Party flag. It would have been a prime opportunity to put ourselves on the map with an independent, socialist, working-class voice.
Second, given the absence of a candidate, what stance should Your Party take?
A statement released by the official Your Party account (x.com, 2 February 2026) announcing the lack of a candidate also stated: “It is imperative that Reform is defeated in Gorton & Denton and the far-right tide is beaten back.” Defeating Reform in this particular electoral contest requires a vote for either Labour or the Greens but which of those it should be, the statement doesn’t say. Jeremy Corbyn somewhat clarified the matter by tweeting to Green candidate Hannah Spencer the following day: “Well done Hannah, the only way to defeat the far-right is by bringing people of all backgrounds and communities together with a message of hope!”
When we were asked to debate and vote at the founding conference on whether Your Party should stand for socialism and have the working class at its heart, our first reaction was incredulity. Why would we not? Both motions thankfully passed, although around a fifth of votes were cast against each.
Now we see the leadership acting against the spirit of these propositions. This support for the Greens leads Your Party not towards socialism and the working class but in the direction of “progressive” coalitions, pleading with other parties to assign us a few seats where we can stand without so-called “left” opposition. It is short-term thinking, lacking ambition, driving away from rather than towards our objective of redistributing “power and wealth to all”. This is not what we, and many other members, signed up for.
Grassroots Left (x.com, 3 February 2026) also released an ambiguous statement, declaring that: “Grassroots Left will not lend unconditional support to the Green Party candidate, because the Greens are a pro-capitalist, pro-Nato party and have been enforcing cuts in councils all over the country.”
Why rule out only “unconditional” support, which we are not aware anyone in Your Party is advocating? What conditions are acceptable? We understand this statement was composed at a meeting where not all GL candidates were present and it seems from the compromise wording that those who were there did not all agree. Grassroots Left is not a faction built around a shared political programme, but an electoral alliance, and it is wrong to pretend unity on the basis of a majority vote.
Zarah Sultana did not hesitate to express her personal view, quickly announcing her “critical support” to Hannah Spencer. Other GL supporters agree with her and have criticised the GL statement, not for evading the question but for being too harsh on the Greens and therefore tactically inept. Prominent GL candidate Max Shanly said in an interview on the TurnLeft podcast (8 February 2026): “I think we should give conditional support to the Greens in certain situations, like the by-election that’s taking place in Manchester.” He went on to express concern that the more conservative wing of Your Party isn’t much different from the Greens and concluded: “We have to be bolder.… The time for timidity is over.”
The bold (and necessary) move in this situation is to sharply distinguish ourselves from the Greens. We believe that some Grassroots Left candidates and supporters disagree with Sultana and Shanly’s conditional or critical support. They should say so. No vote to the Greens! This is not a line that should be papered over with ambiguous words.
If the Greens are “a pro-capitalist, pro-Nato party and have been enforcing cuts in councils all over the country” (all true, of course), why would a fledgling workers’ party see value in giving them any support? Why would a party that has made it clear elections are not its only area of work throw out its commitment to having “the working class at its heart” for one by-election?
We put this question to all CEC candidates, not just the Grassroots Left—will you stand up for the independent political organisation of the working class and oppose votes to or electoral alliances with the Greens?
One argument we hear is that there is an overwhelming necessity to “stop Reform”. Depending whose electoral mathematics you believe, there is a compelling argument that, if this is the only objective, it would be necessary to vote Labour—something most Your Party members would recoil from in horror. The choice of the Greens is not just opting for a lesser evil, but is at some level a belief in Zack Polanski’s rhetoric that his party stands for socialism.
Clearly we do want to stop Reform, but how? Although they do have some links to outright fascists, Reform are not a fascist party. They have positioned themselves on the far right of the electoral arena, pulling in dissatisfied voters from Labour and the Tories. Their policies on turning back asylum seekers and opposing trans rights, their hatred of trade unions and their openly expressed racism and misogyny mean they pose a danger to the British working class, yet they claim, entirely falsely, to represent the working class. They are currently polling top nationwide in a context where a “Labour” party is abjectly failing to address working class needs. The Greens, as they have demonstrated in local councils, will be the same.
The only way to defeat Reform is the building of a real working-class party, based in our communities and the trade unions, fighting for working-class needs and organising independently of “progressive” capitalist parties. Obviously we need to build broader alliances to campaign for immediate needs and to stop mobilisations of the far right on the streets, but sacrificing our political independence every time an electoral contest is posed will only make our task more difficult.
We call on Your Party members to vote for CEC candidates who understand this and are willing to openly state “No vote to the Greens!”.
We call on CEC candidates to stand up for this important principle—it will be key to the future of Your Party.
Related articles
It Was Never Your Party: A squandered opportunity (10 September 2026)
Bolshevik Caucus Platform (11 January 2026)
A Dangerous Trap: The popular front in history & theory (11 June 2026)
Other materials from our intervention in Your Party are available at:
Bolshevik Caucus