In spite of the power struggles at the top of the organization, grassroots activists have made a success of the launch of Your Party Scotland — now the hard work begins. SFI member Kevin McVey reports back from the founding conference in Dundee.
The launch of Your Party was met by a wave of enthusiasm by many hungry for a left alternative to the poisonous right-wing politics increasingly espoused by the political establishment as they seek to divert attention away from a rickety capitalist economy of inequality and a cost-of-living crisis.
Over 800 000 enquired about the party and the potential for an explicitly socialist party achieving widespread popular support seemed a real possibility.
Yet it is fair to say that the birth of the party has been a much more painful one that it needed to be. A small clique, determined to snatch power in the party sought to impose a top-down vision of party organisation that was anathema to many who were looking to Your Party to be a grassroots member led movement.
The perception of manoeuvring and infighting this created undoubtedly stalled the development of the party as it looked like a less attractive proposition for those initially enthusiastic about its birth.
Despite that up to 60 000 have joined and in Scotland the number is believed to be approaching 4000. Ridiculously these figures are estimated because no data has been released because those with access to the data wish to keep control of it, hampering the ability of party members to build branches and develop the campaigning base of the party.
It is therefore to the enormous credit of Your Party members that they organised the founding Conference of Your Party in Scotland over the weekend of 7th and 8th of February in Dundee. The event was a success with hundreds taking part in person or online. It also gave the first significant indication of the direction of travel of the Party in Scotland.
One of the most significant decisions made at Conference was that Your Party Scotland should be a party with its own democratic structures and decision-making processes. As well as being a measure in keeping with the right to self-determination for any party to succeed in Scotland there must be no perception of it being run ‘from London’. A look at the current travails of the Labour Party in Scotland is ample proof of this.
Equally significant was the decision that Your Party would support Scottish Independence. The emphasis on democracy and self determination that was one of the themes at Conference showed an understanding that for a party that aims to orientate towards working class communities a clear position on the constitutional question will make it more attractive to those most attracted to the ideas of the left.
Both decisions were widely welcomed as giving members in Scotland the best chance of developing the party although whether sections of the current national leadership see it that way is open to question. For that reason, the current elections for the National Executive Committee are important to ensure a leadership that is sympathetic to organisational independence and releases the data people so desperately need to build local branches of the party.
Conference also agreed to contest May’s Scottish Parliamentary Election. The party will contest the Regional List with the decision being left to members in the appropriate Regions about whether to stand or not. With the party in its infancy, its structures still being put in place and the lack of information on where and who members are this will be a huge challenge. However the possibility of raising the profile of the party and taking the challenge to Reform was an inviting one for the majority of those present.
Clearly there is potential for Your Party in Scotland. Socialists for Independence has long believed that there is a wide constituency of support for socialist ideas in Scotland. Your Party represents the best opportunity for tapping into that support. Whether it can will be determined by the ability to create a grass roots led movement with a base in working class communities across Scotland.
Kevin McVey
Kevin McVey has spent a lifetime of activity in the socialist movement and is a founding member of Socialists for Independence.