The Corbyn Challenge

 29th November 2024

It feels like hope has returned to politics. “We’re aiming to make history,” Corbyn announced, “by knocking on every door in Islington North… Join us to prove that when we come together, we can win.” And they came, in their dozens and in their hundreds. Corbyn’s tweet on Sunday simply said “4 rallies. 1,000 canvassers. More than 40,000 doors. Thanks to every single one of you who joined our people-powered campaign this weekend.”

Nicola James travelled from Bath to be a part of the challenge: “I’ve committed to returning several times before the election because Jeremy Corbyn needs and deserves our support, and we cannot afford to be complacent. It’s crucial that every constituent in Islington North knows Jeremy is standing as an independent candidate, and that they don’t automatically tick Labour on the ballot.

Particular highlights of the day for me were actually getting to canvass with Jeremy and Alex Nunns, meeting comrades from across the UK, and finally meeting up with Mary Whitby. Mary is an inspiration with her tireless work highlighting the dismantling of our NHS and campaigning for its full restoration.”

Mary Whitby also spoke to Transform: “After lunch we travelled to the afternoon rally, we were given clear travel instructions in advance of which buses to take to various locations during the day, from which bus stops and were even told how many stops we needed to travel through from Euston to the first rally point. It was really helpful information for those of us who were visiting for the day and who don’t know the area or the bus routes. The sun was shining on the afternoon rally, where Jeremy and Ian Hodson, President of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) spoke rallying the crowds of people. We joined another canvassing team and again chatted to lovely locals.

“We were surprised and pleased when Jeremy and Alex Nunns joined our canvassing team knocking on doors. The people we passed were so genuinely happy to see Jeremy and speak to him. Young and old alike were thrilled to encounter him. He got stuck into canvassing including writing personal notes to flat owners where we couldn’t gain access to the building. A young  couple chatted with him from their first floor balcony and were so happy that he had been to their home.

Jeremy loves to talk to people and they absolutely adore speaking to him so it does mean canvassing takes a bit longer!”

The Corbyn Challenge was one of many highlights of a big campaigning weekend. On Friday night several independent candidates took to the stage alongside Roger Waters, Yusuf Islam and Lowkey at a memorable Rock for Palestine event. Here in Merseyside, Sam Gorst’s billboard truck has been touring the streets of Garston.

The challenge after july 4th

Will Corbyn win ? A poll by Survation suggests that Labour are ahead. What would victory mean ? In one sense a win for Corbyn changes nothing: he’ll remain as he is now, an isolated voice in parliament for justice and humanity. The symbolic significance though would be massive.

Make no mistake: we wouldn’t be talking about the possibility of a Corbyn victory if it wasn’t for the support that he’s built up within the constituency over many years. Taking on the Labour Party election juggernaut in parliamentary elections and winning a seat is an immense challenge for any independent candidate: just convincing people that you’re a serious contender is a battle in itself.

One independent candidate who hopes to do better than most is Shockat Adam in Leicester South. He says he lives by the saying (attributed by some to Abraham Lincoln) “give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

The point is that a campaign has to lay down roots: “so we have been working on this campaign for the last six, seven months and we’ve got a real infrastructure, we’ve got a policy team, we’ve got a social media team, we’ve got an operation team, we’ve got a data team, we’ve got volunteers on the ground.“ His campaign, built on the issue of Gaza, has genuine popular appeal. All over the city, Palestinian flags are draped from windows. “We have had countless marches, we have had thousands at our protests, and the best thing about it has been that it’s not just been one group of people at these events” – the city’s diversity is reflected in the movement.

It matters how many votes a candidate can turn out, of course it does. But that’s not everything. Few of us have organised campaigns like this before. If in the course of it we’ve built up a network, made all kinds of new contacts, and learned a number of lessons about how to run an election campaign, then that’s a great start. Whenever the next local or national elections come along, we should be aiming to be more united, more campaign hardened, more established in our communities, and ready to fight and win.

Linda Wall 24/06/2024