The Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Steering Committee has announced its first four candidates to contest seats in the general election in Scotland, in advance of an open conference hosted by Scottish TUSC on June 1st to discuss general election plans.

The Scottish TUSC candidates proposed so far are Brian Smith, standing for the Glasgow South seat; Jim McFarlane (Dundee Central); Chris Sermanni (Rutherglen); and Lucas Grant (for Aberdeen North). 

The general election, whenever it takes place, will see the Tories routed, as they deserve to be. But where is the alternative for working-class people?  Labour under Keir Starmer has stampeded to the right and dumped all of Jeremy Corbyn's left policies.  Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party's crisis continues – with three leaders in just over a year.  The collapsing support for the SNP is rooted in their implementation of Tory cuts in Scotland for the last 17 years.  They are being exposed as a party not of the working class but of business interests and the capitalist establishment.

Scottish TUSC will be making the case for the trade unions to build a new workers' party, for socialist policies to tackle the cost of living crisis like the nationalisation of the rip-off energy companies, for an immediate increase in the minimum wage to £15 an hour, for an end to the slaughter in Gaza, and for the abolition of all anti-union laws.

Scottish TUSC also fights for the right of the people of Scotland to decide their own future through a second independence referendum.  It fights for an independent socialist Scotland as part of the struggle for socialism internationally.

TUSC is aware that other left and socialist parties are or may be planning to stand in the general election in Scotland.  Scottish TUSC is an umbrella coalition open to all who want to see the building of a real alternative for working-class communities, including socialist organisations.

As it has always done, Scottish TUSC will seek to avoid any clashes in local constituencies and hopes to meet and discuss with other groups looking to stand candidates to avoid more than one socialist candidate per constituency.  This could also help to maximise the number of left and socialist candidates in other seats as well.

To that end, all organisations planning to stand in the general election in Scotland are invited to attend the Scottish TUSC conference on June 1st in Glasgow (details below), as well as those who are interested as standing as part of the Scottish TUSC coalition. ■

Planning for the general election in Scotland: a conference hosted by the Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

Saturday 1st June, 1pm,  at the Renfield Centre, 260 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4JP

Contact the Scottish TUSC steering committee at [email protected]

A draft report of the performance of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) in the May local elections is now available at https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2024-Draft-Results-Report.pdf.

Prepared by the National Election Agent, Clive Heemskerk, it will be debated at the next meeting of the TUSC all-Britain Steering Committee taking place on Wednesday May 15th before a final version is published, continuing the tradition established by TUSC since 2011 – of printing the detailed results of every candidate that appeared on the ballot paper under the coalition’s name – on the basis that no serious political advance can be made without an honest accounting of strengths and weaknesses.

The report does not aim to provide an analysis of the TUSC election campaign in the wider context of the fight for a broader vehicle of working class political representation, as the consolidation of the Labour Party as the political representatives of big business under Keir Starmer continues apace. 

But what report does show, argues Clive, is that the TUSC 2024 election campaign has been the best since the relaunch of the coalition in September 2020, after the hopes raised by Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party had led TUSC to suspend its electoral activity.

The highlights of the campaign were the results in Southampton council’s Bevois ward and the Deepdale ward in Preston, with the TUSC candidates’ scores of 32.2% and 31.3% respectively rattling the local Labour Party as our ‘No to cuts! No to war on Gaza!’ message struck home.  Bevois was the safest ward for Labour in Southampton before May 2nd – but not now!

And there were, more modest, gains elsewhere.

While speculation mounts on whether Rishi Sunak could be forced into a summer poll, Thursday’s local elections across England will give millions of people the opportunity to show what they think about all the establishment politicians, Sunak and Starmer alike.  If you believe that it is time to vote for something different, why not start on May 2nd?

An updated list of all the anti-cuts, anti-war candidates standing on Thursday that the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is aware of is available here (https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Final-List.pdf).  They include the candidates appearing on the ballot paper under the TUSC name but also, from page eight, others – standing as independents, or for parties not yet part of the TUSC umbrella – who have been recommended for support for their anti-austerity, anti-war stance. 

Together the 344 council candidates listed here surpass the number of council candidates being fielded by Reform on Thursday, officially occupying the position of the fifth-biggest party in the May elections.  There is an anti-cuts, anti-war option available in 321 wards in those councils with scheduled elections on Thursday, nearly one-in-six.

This impressive stand shows what could be done if all those who want to build a working class alternative to the establishment parties find the means, while respecting their differences, to work together to a common goal.  A lesson for the general election, whenever it is held. ■

Results reporting

Individual results will be published on social media as they come in; and a full report of the campaign, with the detailed results of every TUSC candidate, will be prepared for the next TUSC all-Britain steering committee meeting on Wednesday May 15th.

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.

Postal voters received their election packs in mid-April.  But in the six wards being contested by Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) candidates in the Hertfordshire borough of Broxbourne they were given ballot papers which were missing the TUSC Against Cuts ‘party emblem’. 

The bold TUSC Against Cuts logo is a clear signifier of the policies TUSC candidates fight for.  It stands out on ballot papers against the Labour rose, the Conservatives’ tree emblem, and the Liberal Democrats’ bird-in-flight symbol.  But not on the original papers prepared in Broxbourne.

Realising its mistake – candidates’ have a legal right to have the emblem of the party they are standing for printed on the ballot paper – the council has sent out replacement postal vote packs and correctly ruled that any of the original ballot papers that are returned will not be counted.  But obviously people apply for postal votes for various reasons, including being away from their home, and some electors will inevitably have lost the chance to vote.

And the question remains.  Why was the TUSC emblem omitted in the first place?  Not just from one candidate’s ballot paper, but from all of the TUSC candidates in Broxbourne, contesting a majority (six) of the borough’s ten wards?  On the other hand, the two UKIP candidates in the borough had their emblem included – out of the grand total of 14 council candidates that UKIP is standing across the whole of England on May 2nd compared to 280 for TUSC. 

Possibly this is an example of how bias in wider society can be reflected in AI programmes!  But more likely, some sentient being at some point made the decision to include the establishment parties’ emblems on the ballot papers (including UKIP), but not the TUSC one.

As it becomes ever clearer that a Starmer-led government will not represent the interests of working class people in Britain or internationally, ever-growing numbers are looking at what the alternative should be at the ballot box. 

But while welcome attention is being generated by declarations of prospective general election campaigns and candidacies against the Westminster consensus politicians, the date of that election, of course, is still not known. 

In the meantime however millions of people will have the opportunity to vote in May – in the local elections taking place then.  The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is standing in nearly one-in-seven of the council wards with scheduled elections this year. 

But we know that there are other candidates who should also be supported who are standing outside of the TUSC coalition umbrella at this stage.  So alongside the TUSC candidates’ list below we are publishing them in a separate list – to together produce the most comprehensive a list as possible of where you can vote for stop the cuts, stop the war candidates on May 2nd! ■  

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is standing 279 candidates across 55 authorities in May’s elections in England, including a candidate in the directly-elected mayoral contest in Salford and four constituency seats for the London assembly.

Nominations closed on April 5th, and the full list of candidates that made it onto the ballot paper is available at https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Final-list-of-candidates.pdf, with the council candidates presented in a regional breakdown.

Two hundred and sixty-eight of the TUSC council candidates are standing in tier one or two local authorities with scheduled elections this year – 49 out of the 107 councils in that category.  There is also one TUSC community councillor listed, seeking re-election in May. The remaining five council candidates are contesting by-elections that have been called to coincide with the May polls.

Overall, 13.8% of the council wards with local elections this year (263 out of 1,904, nearly one-in-seven) will have at least one TUSC candidate on the ballot paper, contesting 10% of the seats available – three times as many as in the 2023 local elections. 

This is a significant achievement for a coalition without any mainstream national media coverage, particularly when compared to the millionaire-funded Reform Party, which has only been able to find 323 council candidates to represent it.

Every TUSC candidate is committed to stand up to the establishment parties, including Reform, who have all shown themselves to be virtually indistinguishable when it comes to representing the interests of working class people – in domestic policy and foreign policy too.  The TUSC core policy platform for our May 2024 council candidates can be found at https://www.tusc.org.uk/20023/13-01-2024/tuscs-core-policy-platform-for-the-may-2024-local-elections-2/. 

The summary, however, is simple – every one of them will be a stop the cuts, stop the war candidate in the May 2nd polls! ■

There are other candidates who will be taking a similar stance on May 2nd who, while not on this occasion appearing on the ballot paper under the TUSC banner, will be supported by our coalition.  These include the 33 council and one Police and Crime Commissioner candidates standing for the Workers Party of Britain, which has observer status on the TUSC all-Britain steering committee.  Also, amongst the 500 or so ‘Independents’ standing this year, there are a number who could be properly described as anti-cuts and anti-war candidates; headed by Jamie Driscoll – regularly referred to in the establishment media as ‘the last Corbynista in office’ – who is standing to become the Mayor of the new North East Combined Authority.  We are currently collating information on these and will publish as comprehensive a list of alternative candidates as possible in the coming days.

Two hundred and forty candidates have been approved to stand on behalf of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) in May’s local elections after the latest meeting of the TUSC all-Britain steering committee on March 13th. 

The candidates will be contesting four constituency seats for the Greater London Authority, the directly-elected Salford city mayor, and council wards in 44 first or second-tier local authorities – just over 40% of the 105 local councils with elections this year.

And there’s still time for more trade unionists, anti-cuts community campaigners, stop the war on Gaza protesters, and socialists from different parties or none, to join what will be the biggest working class left-of-Labour challenge to Sir Keir Starmer’s Tory-lite New Labour party in May.   

The final steering committee meeting to approve candidate applications will take place just before Easter, with completed application forms needing to be received by the TUSC National Election Agent – Clive Heemskerk, at [email protected] – by Saturday 23rd March in order to be placed on the agenda.

The application form to be a TUSC council candidate can be downloaded at https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2024-Application-form-Cllr.docx (if you are having difficulty opening this link, try copying it into your browser). 

There is also available an explanatory TUSC Guide for Election Candidates and Agents on the resources page, at https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/TUSC-Guide-for-Candidates-Agents-2024.pdf and a list of the 105 councils where there are elections in May at https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2024-Elections-Directory.pdf. 

The TUSC core policies for the local elections, the minimum policy commitments expected from TUSC candidates, can be found at https://www.tusc.org.uk/20023/13-01-2024/tuscs-core-policy-platform-for-the-may-2024-local-elections-2/. 

The March 13th TUSC steering committee, meeting just two weeks after the Rochdale by-election, discussed a number of other important matters too, including a report on their future plans from a representative of the Workers Party of Britain, who attend committee meetings as observers.  Further reports on the decisions made will be published here soon. 

But in the meantime, the full list of council candidates agreed so far can be found at https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Candidates-list-to-24-03-13.pdf

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) has announced its support for George Galloway’s ‘insurgent campaign’ against the establishment politicians in next week’s Rochdale by-election.

The TUSC national chairperson Dave Nellist, a former Labour MP backbench colleague of George Galloway from 1987-1992, said:

“On February 29th there is no other choice that trade unionists, socialists, and all those that want to  protest at the slaughter in Gaza, could make in the Rochdale by-election than to vote for George Galloway, the only anti-war, pro-Palestinian, anti-austerity alternative to the establishment parties appearing on the ballot paper”.

“The recent Kingswood and Wellingborough by-elections showed the hatred that exists towards the Tories but there was not enthusiasm for Sir Keir Starmer’s Tory-lite New Labour Mark II party.  That would have been shown in Rochdale too, even if Labour had not withdrawn its support for its own candidate after the official nominations had closed”.

The agenda of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) all-Britain steering committee held on February 14th was a particularly full one.  Agreeing a second round of candidates for the local elections on May 2nd, it took the tally so far to 123 councillor seats to be contested by TUSC, across 21 local authorities.

Already it is clear that this will be by far the biggest working class left-of-Labour challenge to Sir Keir Starmer’s Tory-lite New Labour party at the May local polls.  But the message went out that there is still time to join the coalition of trade unionists, stop the war on Gaza protesters, community campaigners, and socialists from different parties or none, standing together under the TUSC umbrella on the ballot paper.  What is stopping anyone who wants to fight back from taking a stand?

The next steering committee meeting to approve candidate applications will take place on March 13th, with completed application forms needing to be received by the TUSC National Election Agent – Clive Heemskerk, at [email protected] – by Saturday 9th March in order to be placed on the agenda for this meeting.

Two independent socialists, Pete McLaren and Tom Allen, have been elected to represent the TUSC Individual Members’ section on the TUSC All-Britain Steering Committee for 2024.

TUSC is a coalition with an all-Britain steering committee comprised of representatives from its constituent organisations alongside leading trade unionists, sitting in a personal capacity.  Individual members of TUSC who are not members of a constituent organisation, who organise their own national meetings and online consultations on TUSC matters and other issues, also have places on the committee.

For 2024 the two individual members’ representatives will be Pete McLaren and Tom Allen.  Their candidate nomination statements are published below.

Representatives of twelve different campaign groups and socialist organisations met in Birmingham on Saturday 3rd February in a Convention to Organise a Working Class Challenge at the General Election. 

Initiated by the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) last year with an appeal to different organisations to discuss the possibility of a joint election challenge to both the Tories and Sir Keir Starmer’s rehashed Tony Blair-style ‘New Labour’ party (see https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Invite-to-organise-convention-October-2023.pdf), TUSC was joined as a co-host of the Convention by the Socialist Party, the registered political party System Change (formerly Resist), the Campaign for a Mass Workers Party, the TUSC Independent Socialists group, and the Socialist Students organisation, with a presence on forty campuses across Britain. 

Joining them in Birmingham – in person and on zoom given the ASLEF train drivers’ strike – were representatives from six further organisations.  These included the registered parties, the Social Justice Party and the Workers Party of Britain, the newly-formed Transform party, and the Organising Corbyn Inspired Socialist Alliance (OCISA) campaign group, who are promoting a single independent left candidacy for Sir Keir Starmer’s Holborn & St Pancras constituency seat. 

Representatives of twelve different campaign groups and socialist organisations are meeting this weekend (on Saturday 3rd) in a Convention to Organise a Working Class Challenge at the General Election. 

An agenda document has now been released by the Convention Arrangements Committee, which is available at https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Convention-Agenda-document.pdf.

The Convention will start with an opening session which has been given the title, ‘Do we want a common election challenge? And is it possible?’.  Participating in this discussion will be the Convention co-hosting organisations – the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), the Socialist Party, System Change (formerly Resist), the Campaign for a Mass Workers Party, the TUSC Independent Socialists, and Socialist Students – alongside the newly-formed Transform Party, the Social Justice Party, the Workers Party of Britain, and the Organising Corbyn Inspired Socialist Alliance (OCISA) campaign group who are promoting a single independent left candidacy for Sir Keir Starmer’s Holborn & St Pancras constituency seat.