The budget presented by the new chancellor John Healey on 28th October couldn’t have been clearer.  This was a Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves-continuity production, signalling that this government will continue to put the interests of big business and the rich elite ahead of the needs of workers, young people, and the environment.

Average household income is set to be lower in real terms by the end of this parliament in 2029-30 with a bigger fall than in any other equivalent period since 1962, while the budget confirmed the squeeze on public services will continue.

As for students and young people, as the National Union of Students (NUS) said in announcing their decision to back the N20 international youth strike, the budget “does nothing” for them, ignoring calls to change the unfair student loans system in England, slowing the growth of the minimum wage for people aged 18 to 20 – breaking a manifesto promise – and giving no relief to the funding crisis in universities and colleges. 

And yet, amongst other goodies for big business, £1.25 billion in public funds was given as a subsidy to Rolls Royce, the fifth-biggest company in the FTSE 100 stock exchange, even as it spends £9 billion or so this year on share buybacks to benefit its wealthy private owners. 

What was it that Andy Burnham said about ‘ending 40 years of neo-liberalism’? About the rich getting everything and the working class and young people nothing?

Meanwhile £3 billion of cuts were announced to the Energy department’s budgets for heat pumps, warm homes insulation and other greenhouse gas emission reduction schemes – not to help save the planet but to pay for higher military spending. 

The youth walkout on November 20th – N20 – will show the growing opposition there is to what such status quo establishment politics offers.  As do the national strike ballots under way of the members of the PCS civil servants union, the UCU members in further education, the probation workers organised by NAPO, and the BMA hospital consultants.  But the question of how workers and young people can be politically represented is still to be answered. 

Starting at the council elections on May 6th next year, which will be the biggest set of local contests that have taken place since the 2024 general election, with nearly 10,000 councillors being elected in England, Scotland and Wales (see the TUSC 2027 Elections Directory).

Reviewing the TUSC model

That is why recent discussions at the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) steering committee have included questions raised by individual committee members and constituent organisations about the effectiveness of the current ‘TUSC model’ of organisation and its electoral interventions. 

The participants in TUSC have never conceived the coalition as being the new, mass vehicle of political representation that the working class needs as an alternative to the establishment parties.  Instead TUSC has been seen as a means to campaign – including at election times – for a new mass party to be created; and that it requires more authoritative forces to act than those presently participating in the coalition, above all left-led trade unions, to bring such a party into being.  But still, within that framework, the TUSC model should be reviewed for the 2027 local elections and discussion had on how a different approach might be more able to unite the left and/or achieve greater electoral success... (continued)

The national executive of the National Education Union (NEU), the largest education union in Europe, has unanimously voted to back the International Youth Strike on Friday 20th November, when students in more than 50 towns and cities across Britain will walk out of schools, colleges and universities under the slogan ‘fight for our future, not their wars’.

In the motion agreed at its meeting on October 22nd, the executive resolved to “express support for the right of young people to peacefully organise, protest and make their voices heard, including those taking part in the N20 day of action”, and to “oppose disciplinary action against students participating in peaceful protest activity, including detentions or other sanctions, and to support campaigns defending students’ rights where required”.

The union will also tell members about the strike through NEU communications channels, including how they can “safely and responsibly support participating students’ rights in line with safeguarding requirements and legal obligations”, and will advise members who wish to volunteer as stewards at local student demonstrations. Bristol NEU has already passed its own motion offering practical support for the students’ protest, such as hi-viz jackets or the cost of hiring a sound system, and backing members who volunteer as stewards where organisers ask for them and safeguarding arrangements are in place.

The National Union of Students (NUS) which represents over seven million students, announced on 28th October, in its response to the chancellor’s autumn budget, that it too will be taking part in the youth strike.  NUS said the budget “does nothing for students”: the chancellor had done nothing about unfair student loans in England, had slowed the growth of the minimum wage for people aged 18 to 20, breaking a manifesto promise, and had given no detail on funding universities and colleges.  Students had been left out of the conversation, NUS said, and “that’s why NUS is taking part in the youth strike”.  It is asking students to sign up to take part on the day... (continued)

The October meeting of the all-Britain Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) steering committee saw TUSC become the latest in a growing list of organisations committing to support the international youth strike on November 20 – the last day of the COP31 climate summit – under the banner, ‘Fight For Our Future, Not Their Wars’. 

Socialist Students, one of the constituent organisations of TUSC with representation on our steering committee, is one of the founding organisers of the international youth strike, the plan for which was made at an assembly of twelve different youth and student organisations from eight countries held in Cologne on 14th June, following a successful series of school student strikes in Germany against the government’s plan there to re-introduce conscription. 

At this initial meeting there were unsurprisingly four German youth organisations present, along with two from France, and one each from Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Denmark and Britain (Socialist Students). 

Since then, as youth movements have flared up across Europe, further organisations have joined the network from Italy (three), Belgium (three), Germany (two), Netherlands (two), and one each from France, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, and Slovenia.  In Britain a further two organisations are now backing N20 – the Young Greens, and the Stop The War Coalition, the later welcomed to their first in person meeting of the international organising group on October 17th-18th.  In France the three organisations participating in the N20 network – Union étudiante, Solidaires étudiant-e-s, and Mouvement National Lycéen – have been heavily involved in the current student protest movement. The N20 network is not a ‘talking shop’ but a key initiator of a significant and growing international movement.

As part of its preparation for N20 in Britain, Socialist Students has made an appeal for solidarity aimed at trade unionists, in a model motion available here, which was endorsed by the TUSC steering committee. The National Education Union (NEU) national executive committee unanimously agreed to back the walkout at its meeting the next day, in a motion moved by a TUSC supporter.

Once again young people are showing what needs to be done. For more information check out the Socialist Students website at https://socialiststudents.org.uk/ 

Other decisions

The steering committee also discussed a range of other issues, including a proposal to begin a public discussion about ‘the TUSC model’ of organisation and the coalition’s electoral interventions in advance of the 2027 local elections (with more details to appear shortly).  Other preparatory work for the elections included a briefing on social care policy, around a paper drafted by a recently-retired former UNISON organiser for social care workers, and the new TUSC Directory of Elections in 2027.

And there was initial discussion too on proposals from the TUSC Independent Socialists: The Individual Supporters’ Section reps on the steering committee on stepping up campaigning work against racism and the far-right, and a report on correspondence with the Socialist Federation group of ex-Your Party proto-branch activists. ■

The next steering committee meeting will take place on December 2nd. By-election candidate applications and any other items for consideration to be placed on the agenda for the meeting must be received by the TUSC National Election Agent – Clive Heemskerk, at [email protected] – by Friday 27th November.

The first Autumn meeting of the all-Britain Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) steering committee was held on September 9th, reviewing the effect so far of Andy Burnham’s ascent to the Labour leadership on the prospects for building independent working class political representation and beginning preparations for the local elections that will take place in May 2027.

The discussion included agreeing a TUSC steering committee briefing document (here) on the new possibilities for campaigning on rent controls and council house building, after the coming into effect of the Renters’ Rights Act in May this year. The briefing explains what the Act has changed – in opening up a new terrain for organising tenants – and what it hasn’t. But also what councils could do with existing legal powers, including achieving rent restraint in practice, if there were councillors prepared to fight.

In this context the briefing also includes some points for discussion on what should be included in the TUSC local elections core policy platform for May 2027, the ‘minimum commitments’ that are asked of prospective candidates who want to use one of the TUSC registered descriptions on the ballot paper... (continued)

The latest meeting of the all-Britain Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) steering committee was held on the eve of the Makerfield by-election. And although it couldn’t exactly predict the course of the subsequent events, it did set-up TUSC for the work that needs to be done to fight for the working class to have its own political voice in the new conditions of a seventh prime minister coming to office in ten years.

The steering committee discussed the latest cross-union meeting of the ‘Trade Unionists for a New Party’ campaign held on June 8th, which 303 people registered for. Hosted by the TUSC chairperson Dave Nellist, it was opened by the Birmingham bin strike Unite convenor Matt Reid, who made the point that when people had “voted Labour, it was because they had stood for communities, for working people, for trade unions. And I’m of the belief now that they’ve had far too many chances and we need to re-establish ourselves as a trade union and build our own party again. We did it before”, and could do it again.

Other speakers (in a personal capacity) included executive members from Unite, Unison, NEU, UCU and Napo; and the PCS Deputy President Dave Semple, who argued that the motion passed at the union’s recent conference on fighting the far-right – which included the demand for PCS to convene a conference with other unions “to discuss the building of a political vehicle for workers” should Labour not move to implement pro-worker policies – will be a major task for the new national executive committee in the year ahead. A video recording of all the contributions made is available on YouTube here.

In preparation for the meeting TUSC had produced a union-by-union progress report (available here) up to the end of May and, with further union conferences taking place in June and beyond, the TUSC steering committee agreed to produce an update at the end of the conference season. The meeting also welcomed the addition of two further executive council members of Unite and three PCS national executive committee members onto the TUSC steering committee, to play their part in the growing debate on working class political representation in the unions. ■

Delegates from across the country attended UNISON’s conference for local government workers in Brighton from 14th-15th June, with over 25 participating in a Trade Unionists for a New Party fringe meeting held on the Sunday evening.

The meeting was convened to enable an open discussion about political representation with the chair, Saffy Hill-Chambers from Surrey local government UNISON, highlighting that similar discussions are occurring throughout the country.

UNISON NEC member Jim McFarlane introduced the discussion, speaking in a personal capacity. He outlined the collapse in support for Starmer's Labour in May’s elections, after continuing Tory austerity measures, including in the NHS and local government. He warned of the rise of electoral support for Reform, including among UNISON members, which is exploiting the political vacuum created by the failures of Labour, and of the SNP in Scotland.

Although only 13.7% of UNISON members pay into the ‘Labour Link’ fund, this minority dictates union political policy. Motions to debate the union’s relationship with Labour had been ruled off the agenda of the main conference meeting later in the week. He called on UNISON general secretary Andrea Egan to deliver on her pledge to review this relationship. Pointing to Unite the Union’s decision to cut its contribution to Labour by £600,000, he asked why UNISON continues to give £3 million annually to a political party that does not represent trade union interests.

In a wide-ranging discussion, one UNISON activist said members who had supported Andrea Egan would start to have doubts if there is not action on achieving her manifesto aims. A member of the Broxtowe Alliance, a UNISON member, reported that they won seats after 20 councillors left Labour.

Others outlined how, if unions were to use their funds flexibly, they could back candidates who genuinely support working-class policies. Whereas current UNISON rules mean the union cannot even back its own members if they run as independent or socialist candidates.

The case was made for a debate within the union, and for a trade union conference to debate political representation. Within that the case could be put forward for a new workers' party based on organised workers in the unions, with an alternative that puts public ownership, workers' rights, an end to council cuts, and socialist policies at the centre of its platform. The battle to put UNISON at the fore of this debate goes on. ■

In preparation for the Zoom meeting organised for Monday 8th June to update trade union reps and activists on the Trade Unionists for a New Party campaign, launched at a thousand-plus strong meeting in July last year, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition has produced a new union-by-union round-up report (available here).

This documents the debates at the conferences of unions in which supporters of the Trade Unionists for a New Party have been organising that have taken place to the end of May, with extracts from the various motions and statements that were tabled.

In addition there is an update on the situation in Unite, which while it does not have a conference this summer, has seen a significant shift in the composition of its executive council following elections that were concluded on April 27th, with seven signatories of the Trade Unionists for a New Party founding petition now on the new leadership body.

Other highlights include the historic decision of the performing arts workers’ union Equity, voting at conference to start a process which could establish a political fund for the union for the first time in its 96-year existence, and to approach other unions examining these issues to open discussion on “a political voice accountable to trade unionists”. While in the PCS too, like Unite, there is a new majority on the national executive committee, amongst whom are seven signatories of the Trade Unionists for A New Party founding petition, including the new deputy president Dave Semple.

But there is still much to be done and all trade unionists who want to see a working-class political fightback are welcome at Monday’s meeting.

Tickets from https://tinyurl.com/yc8hzepx  ■

A national Zoom meeting has been organised for Monday 8th June to update trade union reps and activists on the Trade Unionists for a New Party campaign, which was launched at a thousand-plus strong meeting in July last year.

The June 8th meeting will be a chance to hear reports from the eleven unions where groups are now established to challenge Labour funding, and discuss organising conferences and forums within and across unions to determine the next steps after the outcome of the May elections.

All trade unionists are welcome. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion.

Tickets for a small donation from https://tinyurl.com/yc8hzepx  ■

The first post-election meeting of the TUSC all-Britain steering committee took place on Wednesday May 13th and, as has been our practice every year since 2011, agreed to publish a full report as a public record of the results of all the 750 or so TUSC, independent and other left candidates – advertised on the TUSC website prior to polling day (see here) – who stood on an anti-austerity and anti-war platform on May 7th.

The election report this year is very much a statistical digest, presenting in detail the results achieved by those standing outside of the ‘big five’ mainstream parties of Labour, Conservative, Reform, Liberal Democrat and the Greens (and the SNP and Plaid Cymru in Scotland and Wales) who could properly be described as anti-austerity and anti-war candidates.

This is not because there are no broader questions to analyse from what were, undoubtedly, seminal elections – far from it! What is the significance of the gains for Reform and the Greens, the Plaid Cymru surge in Wales and the election of the biggest-ever bloc of pro-independence MSPs to Holyrood, and, above all, the crushing defeat for Keir Starmer’s Tory-retread ‘Labour government’ – all are vital issues for socialists and the workers’ movement to assess as the task of rebuilding working class political representation is debated.

But this year was the biggest ‘outside the mainstream’ election challenge – the biggest ‘data dump’ of results that we have had to process – since over 800 candidates contested the local and general elections on the same day in 2015 (polling then a combined total of 163,517 votes). So gathering that information together was the first job to be done.

Facts to inform debate

Raw statistics, of course, still leave much to be discussed. In the run up to the elections, for example, TUSC argued that the danger of a fragmented election campaign by a mix of independents and different registered parties – there are 25 separate parties registered with the Electoral Commission included in this report – was that any local highlights achieved would not be properly recognised nationally.

“Think, for example, what the narrative will be from the elections on May 8th”, we wrote in February in an appeal to Your Party supporters, if even the best results won “are buried in the ‘others’ column?” While Reform, and the Greens positioning as the ‘progressive alternative’ to Starmer’s Labour, “are portrayed as the gainers”. And isn’t what has happened since polling day precisely the ‘burying’ of the best results?

The Greens increased their tally of councillors by 441 on May 7th, with national fanfare. But how widely is it known that the total vote secured by all the candidates listed in this report reached 441,314 and that over a hundred (102) of the candidates were elected? 

There is much more information to be gathered and assessed. There are, undoubtedly, many other issues to discuss from the May polls. But the report makes a start... (continued)

The new anti-austerity and anti-war councillors elected on May 7th can make a difference, as a republished case study of the record of two socialist councillors under the last New Labour government shows.

The headline-grabbing stories from the elections are the gains for Reform and the Greens, the Plaid Cymru surge in Wales, the Scottish National Party’s continued hold in Holyrood and, above all, the crushing defeat for Kier Starmer’s Tory-retread ‘Labour government’. But the election of a number of anti-austerity and anti-war councillors, under a variety of banners including some of the Green victors, offers the chance of a fightback combining council positions with a grassroots campaign – which can build on the previous experience of councillors working as a minority in the council chamber.

That was the situation that faced the two socialist councillors elected in the south London borough of Lewisham in 2006, under the Tony Blair government that was pioneering the ‘profit before people’ policies of austerity and privatisation that Starmer emulates today. The Socialist Councillors Are Different! pamphlet, now published online, gives a blow-by-blow account of the role that even just one or two determined councillors can play to protect working class interests against the establishment politicians.

Over the years the TUSC all-Britain steering committee has produced regular briefings, reports and guidance material on how councillors could fight back, including our 55-page briefing, Preparing a No Cuts People’s Budget, the 2025 How Much Reserves Have They Got? report, and a recent discussion document in preparation for this May’s elections.

Now we are pleased to make the Lewisham pamphlet more widely available. And look forward to discussing and working with those new councillors elected on May 7th who want to fight austerity all the way. ■

The results report

A full report of the results of the 750 or so TUSC, independent and other left candidates who stood on an anti-austerity and anti-war platform on Thursday will be prepared for the next TUSC all-Britain steering committee meeting on Wednesday May 13th.

A draft version will be posted early next week and, after discussion at the steering committee, published on the Candidates Page as a public record – as has been TUSC practice every year since 2011.

The elections on May 7th will be an opportunity for millions to show their anger at the establishment party politicians and the rigged system of capitalism – with its menu choices of inequality, austerity, racism, environmental vandalism and war – that they preside over.

But in a modest number of contests, just under a fifth of the English council wards or divisions with elections and in some Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd seats, there will be a choice of an anti-cuts, anti-war candidate available.

Of these, 286 candidates, contesting seats in 64 local authorities in England, are using one of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) descriptions on their ballot paper, with candidates also standing in mayoral contests in Croydon, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets. A full list of these is available here, with the English council candidates presented in a regional breakdown.

Independents with a difference

In addition, however, there are at least 320 other candidates who are appearing on the ballot paper as independents or on behalf of a local community party. Not the usual type of 'non-political independents - which itself is a political stance - but candidates who could properly be described as standing in opposition to Keir Starmer’s austerity and war agenda. And then there are a further 115 standing for other left-wing parties, including Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s Your Party. A report on all the Your Party, independents, and other left-wing council candidates is available here.

So if you think that it is time to vote for socialist change, and you are in one of the seats where there is a chance to do so, why not start on May 7th? ■

Results reporting

Individual results will be published on social media as they come in; and a full account of the campaign, with the detailed results of every candidate listed in the two reports, will be prepared for the next TUSC all-Britain steering committee meeting on Wednesday May 13th.

A draft version will be posted early next week and, after discussion at the steering committee, published on the Candidates Page as a public record – as has been TUSC practice every year since 2011.

With nominations closed for the local elections taking place on May 7th it is now confirmed that the sixth-biggest bloc of candidates – behind Labour, the Tories, Reform, the Lib Dems and the Greens – are those using one of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) descriptions on their ballot paper.

The number of local authorities with scheduled contests this May is 136, with councillors being elected in around 3,000 wards or county council divisions.  In total there are 289 candidates who are using a TUSC-registered description in the local elections across 64 councils – standing in one-in-five of the wards in those councils and just under one-in ten overall – including candidates for the directly-elected mayors of Croydon, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets.

At the same time there will be six constituency candidates using a TUSC description in the Scottish Parliament elections, agreed by the autonomous Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, and two constituencies contested by five candidates using a TUSC description in the Welsh Senedd elections (out of 16), with each constituency sending six members to the Senedd on a proportional system.

The full list is available here, with the English council candidates presented in a regional breakdown.

Most of the candidates appear on the ballot paper with the description Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition next to their name but some are using the Independent Trade Union and Socialist Candidate or Socialist and Trade Union Candidate descriptors.

Whatever the description, however, every candidate is committed to stand up to the establishment parties, who have all shown themselves to be indistinguishable when it comes to representing the interests of working class people.  The TUSC core policy platform for the May council elections – the minimum ‘six guarantees’ that local election candidates commit to before they can use one of the TUSC descriptions – can be found here.

For those with a TUSC candidate in their area the opportunity is there not just to protest on May 7th but to vote positively for socialist change. And, if you can, join us in that campaign. ■

There are other candidates contesting the establishment parties on May 7th who, while not appearing on the ballot paper with a trade unionist and socialist description, will be supported by our coalition. These include the 20 candidates standing under the Your Party name and others appearing on the ballot paper as ‘Independent’ who could be properly described as anti-cuts and anti-war candidates. We are currently collating information on these and will publish as comprehensive a list as possible of alternative candidates before polling day.