The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) all-Britain steering committee has offered its full backing to the recent moves made towards the establishment of a new political voice for the working class to challenge the continuity Tories of Keir Starmer’s New Labour party.

At its first meeting since the dramatic announcement on July 3rd by the Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana that she was resigning from Labour to work with Jeremy Corbyn to found a new party, the TUSC steering committee agreed to help in any way it can to make a new working-class party become a reality.

The TUSC national chairperson Dave Nellist, also a former Labour MP (1983-1992) from Coventry South, said:  “From its beginning TUSC has been conceived as ‘contributing to the hard, long-term task of rebuilding political representation’ for the working class – in the words of the 2012 RMT transport workers’ union AGM resolution that saw it officially join the TUSC steering committee – not as the finished broader vehicle that is needed but rather a lever to help bring it about”. 

“Our activity has always been aimed to help develop the self-confidence of the working class that it is an alternative power to the tiny capitalist elite who rule our society.  And that it has the capacity to create and build its own democratic mass workers’ party to realise that power politically”.

“It is from that starting point that TUSC has been involved in some of the discussions that preceded Zarah Sultana’s announcement on July 3rd.  And it is on that basis too that we will enthusiastically contribute what we can to the process of getting a new party off the ground”.

“One immediate step we will be pushing forward is the campaign initiated in May by senior trade unionists – now with 41 current and former members of trade union executive committees signed up – calling for urgent discussions across the unions to establish a political voice for working people (see the online petition at https://www.change.org/TradeUnions-LaunchANewParty)”.

“Another will be to offer support to councillors prepared to come over to a new party; in a situation where Labour’s continued austerity agenda for local government means that a fighting, no cuts strategy – which TUSC has pioneered since its inception – will be vital to marking out a new party and its representatives as completely different to the establishment politicians”.

Party registration offer

Dealing with the next practical steps to be addressed, the TUSC national election agent Clive Heemskerk added: “Establishing a new workers’ party able to bring together trade unions, anti-war protestors, working class community campaigners, environmental activists, young people fighting for a future, and the already existing groups of independent councillors, is a process and not something to be achieved in one act”.

“One issue is the requirement under Britain’s election laws to register a party with the Electoral Commission before it can appear on ballot papers, including the restrictions on what the name could be if it overlaps with already existing parties.  As an interim measure, the TUSC steering committee agreed that we would be prepared to ‘hand over’ our registration to Jeremy and Zarah if that helps the process along”.

“It would allow things to get going straightaway.  And actually TUSC’s ‘federal coalition’ model of organisation also fits in with how a new, inclusive party could operate, at least in its early stages, to achieve the greatest unity (see https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/How-TUSC-Functions-September-2022.pdf).  Over the years various socialist parties, independent councillors, community organisations – and for ten years a national trade union – have participated in TUSC’s ‘consensus method’ of decision-making which, while often requiring patient discussions with everyone’s viewpoint both being and being seen to be equal, has brought everybody along”. 

“Of course, once a party is registered – or, in this case, if our offer is taken up, new statutory officers appointed – things can be amended later on with the democratic involvement of members.  That could include a debate on the best ballot paper name, although TUSC’s legally-registered descriptions including ‘Socialist and Trade Union Candidate’ and ‘Independent Trade Union and Socialist Candidate’, have the advantage of saying clearly which side of the class division of wealth and power the new party’s candidates would be on”.

“But the most important thing to realise now is that the idea of a new party is out there and the chance to take a big step forward for working class political representation must be seized”. ■

What the TUSC constituents say

Different component parts of the TUSC steering committee give their own, independent, responses on the moves to a new party. 

Returning from the Unite the Union conference held on 7-11 July, during which Birmingham Labour council announced the effective fire-and-rehire of refuse workers striking against pay cuts of up to £8,000 a year, the Unite executive council member Suz Muna, who sits on the TUSC steering committee in a personal capacity, said: “The government has a direct role in Birmingham through its appointed commissioners to the council and it led our conference to vote overwhelmingly to re-examine Unite’s relationship with the Labour Party”.

“Members want political representatives who work in their interests.  This means a party of trade unionists and community campaigners, who speak for us in parliament and council chambers across the country”.

“We can learn from the foundations of the Labour Party, when different trade union and socialist organisations fought to get their representatives elected to parliament, and then combined to fight for working class interests”.

“It was this party that won us welfare support, the NHS, free education, a state pension, and mass council housing”.

“There was nothing inevitable about its move to the right.  That came from a series of decisions that allowed democracy to wither within the party.  And that’s the other lesson from history: to cleave to meaningful democratic accountability so that the people we elect never lose touch with, or betray, those who elected them”.

Another senior trade unionist who participates in the TUSC steering committee in a personal capacity, April Ashley, who has just won 28,792 votes to be re-elected as the female black members’ rep on the UNISON national executive council, said: “At Unison conference 2025 every delegate who called for a new party for workers got massive applause.  However, that was not the only view expressed.  Our general secretary, Christina McAnea, praised the ‘significant changes’ she claimed we’re seeing under Starmer’s government.  For most Unison members, however, their experience is not of positive change but a continuation of Tory austerity, including savage cuts to local authorities that are already on their knees”.

“Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn’s announcements about moves to found a new party are therefore very welcome to me and other Unison members.  In my view, however, it will be crucial to successfully building a force with real roots in the working class that any structure for a new party gives trade unions a collective voice, under the democratic control of union members”.

Duncan Moore, a member of the University and College Union (UCU) national executive, on the steering committee in a personal capacity, also welcomed the announcement: “It’s the policy of our union, as decided by this year’s congress, to take steps towards founding a workers’ political alternative; one that will fix the funding crisis and stop the attacks on our members in post-16 education, which have deepened under Tory and Labour governments”. 

“I’m pleased therefore that Zarah Sultana has announced that she will be helping to found a new party with Jeremy Corbyn. As our congress agreed, she, Corbyn, and other pro-worker MPs from the ‘independent alliance’ will be invited to meet with our national executive to discuss how they can support our fight for education in parliament; and I hope also we can discuss how UCU and the rest of the trade union movement would be represented in any new party that emerges”.

Speaking for the Socialist Party, one of the founding organisations of TUSC, Hannah Sell, the party’s general secretary, said: “The Socialist Party campaigns for a new workers’ party as an important step forward in the struggle for socialism.  We immediately issued a statement welcoming Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn’s announcements (see Zarah Sultana MP leaves Labour and announces ‘co-founding a new party’ – Socialist Party).  Even now before any party exists, it is topping the polls among young people”.

“A new party will need an open democratic structure, within which different socialist groups can argue their point of view.  That is vital because building a party with widespread support is only the first step; we need a force capable of successfully leading a struggle to transform society.  We got a glimpse when Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader of the huge opposition such a party will face from the capitalist elite.  Debate and discussion on how to overcome that opposition will be both inevitable and necessary if we are to succeed in our goals”.

The elected representatives of the individual independent members of TUSC on the steering committee, Pete McLaren and Tom Allen, said: “Independent socialists have been working towards building a new socialist party for many years.  Labour’s ditching of socialism, support for the onslaught in Gaza, and attacks on both human rights and the welfare state, makes this imperative.  The rise of the racist far-right, and its party Reform UK, needs to be immediately addressed and countered”. 

“We are entering a time of huge opportunity: the opportunity for the working class to have a party that represents their interests.  However, with that opportunity comes challenge, and it will now be the duty of all the disparate groups and individuals involved in this task to work together to ensure it happens.  That means all of us embracing what may be unfamiliar ways of working together”.

“We really cannot afford to let this opportunity slip away.  For who knows when the next one will be?”

Speaking for System Change, another party registered with the Electoral Commission which is also represented on the TUSC steering committee, Peter Forrest said: “System Change is a members-led party that supports the offer by TUSC, of loaning its title to the new party for electoral purposes, and thinks this is a genuine and honest offer which is worthy of consideration by those concerned”.

Adam Gilman fromSocialist Students, a campaigning organisation with a presence in over 60 schools, colleges and universities and which is a constituent organisation of TUSC, said: “Socialist Students welcomes the announcements that Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn will ‘co-lead the founding of a new party’.  As we saw under Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-austerity and socialist leadership of the Labour Party it inspired hundreds of thousands of mainly young people to join it”.

“Socialist Students has been at the forefront of fighting for a mass political alternative that fights for the working class and young people and have, at our 2023 and 2024 conferences, voted in favour of campaigning ‘for a new mass political party which represents the interests of the working class, students and young people’.

“In the immediate future Socialist Students is organising walkouts of school, college and university students against Trump on his unprecedented second state visit in September, organising students for action whilst discussing and campaigning to fight against all attacks and for a socialist future”.

And on behalf of the Campaign for a Mass Workers’ Party, who attend the TUSC steering committee as observers, Nigel Smith said: “We fully support the initiative recently announced by Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn to begin the process of setting up a new socialist party of the working class.  The Campaign for a Mass Workers’ Party and others have been working for such an initiative for some time.  However, it took the brave declaration by Zarah to act as a catalyst for this development”.

“We know the need for socialism has never been greater.  We need a party that will stand for the many, not the few.  We call for an open democratic process to bring the left together in unity of purpose – a united front – a mass party of the working class”.

“Nationalise public utilities, kick the private sector out of the NHS, education and local government, build peace and justice, protect the environment and the rights of minorities”.

“We call for a founding congress of the new party to take place in 2025”.