Photo credits: Matthew Price
Term 3 was draining. With essays piling up and many reminiscing about summers gone by, we yearned for a repeat of one of these seemingly endless summers of fun to be waiting at the end of our studies. This, I must admit, was exactly my position at the end of second year.
University life is exhilarating. I’ve had weeks, even days where I feel as if I’ve lived a lifetime. Things move so quickly; you meet so many incredible people and experience a multitude of swings and roundabouts, that by the end of the year all you can ask for is some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, due to the chaotic nature of our political sphere (plagued by rampant injustices, corruption and consistently shocking headlines that numb us to the horrors of the world) the only element of the luxurious summers described above that I received was ‘endless.’
Warwick Left Society, to many people’s disbelief, has been in the minds of many for some time, long before the summer of ‘Your Party’ and the split from Labour commenced. We, being those in our society much more ‘left’ than Labour allows you to be nowadays, have floated the idea around breaking away for as long as I can remember, but never were these remarks spoken with any gravitas until the early months of 2025.
Like many in Warwick Left Society before our rebrand, I was completely devoted to the Labour Party and changing it from within, right until the moment a greater alternative was offered. Rumours started to grow of political unrest within the party, and a potential breakaway by the ever-determined Zarah Sultana MP, coupled with constant questions on Jeremy Corbyn MP’s plans, was a possibility constantly flirted with in dramatic and idealistic conversations about the future of the society, the country and international politics.
Finally, at the first weekend of July, whilst I was in a field with no signal, the announcement came that these rumours had materialised: Zarah Sultana had left Labour, with the intention of establishing a new party with Jeremy Corbyn. What followed for many of us can only be described as a rollercoaster of emotions, events, disbelief and opportunities.
As a born and raised Bolsover local, the Labour Party has always been my political home. With Dennis Skinner as MP in Bolsover for nearly 50 years and Tony Benn next door in Chesterfield just a few decades earlier, these titans of the socialist movement consistently advocated, through hardship and success, for the success of the Labour Party. These local heroes of mine, alongside my youthful transfixion on Ed Miliband, my parents’ relentlessness to keep me and my twin brother informed on the political doings from a young age, and a seemingly ingrained obsession with the importance of education, shaped my politics and even my identity.
To break away from Labour felt like a betrayal to all the things that have made me, especially politically (which to me, plays a larger part of who we are than we like to say it does), Ultimately, after a few weeks of thought and weighing up our various options, I concluded: it was not my fault that I felt as if I was abandoning Labour, but theirs. A Labour Party that has drifted so monumentally far from its founding principles and values, built by the trade unions and serving as the home for democratic socialists for over a century, torn down by the gradual acceptance of neoliberal economics, the erosion of party democracy and an unwavering commitment to stand in solidarity with the just causes of the world, has been completely eradicated.
This party, which once let its figures like Benn, Skinner, Castle, Foot, stand side by side with Wilson, Brown, Attlee and Healey, now remove the whip from those who voted to scrap the cruel Two Child Benefit Cap and maintain Winter Fuel Payments for pensioners. Labour has moved so irreversibly from its original position that it can no longer be recognised as the home of democratic socialism. It was not those like me who have left that let down the Labour Party – the Labour Party let us down.
And so, following this acceptance and further discussions with some members of Exec and friends I deem to have strong political comprehension, Warwick Left Society was born. On the 1st of August, we supported Cllr Grace Lewis’ decision to resign and join ‘Your Party,’ albeit, in hindsight, with a stereotypically leftist ability to be incredibly underprepared and disorganised, which all of the blame for can be placed solely on my shoulders.
Nevertheless, Warwick Left Society rose from the ashes and began its new chapter, free from the burden of Labour’s austerity and complicity in genocide that day by day enables Prime Minister Farage to become a reality.
Since doing so, we have been delighted to see various other student groups join us in either leaving Labour, becoming a ‘Left’ society, or even a fully blown ‘Your Party’ society. Students on the Left are starting to join together, setting aside any petty ideological differences, and fighting the same fight for socialism on their campuses, local areas and beyond. We saw Newcastle Labour become the Socialist society, and our good friends at Manchester become Manchester Student Left.
Our new and ever-growing coalition includes groups from Oxbridge, Bristol, Bath, Lancaster and many more, all determined to shape this new party towards a genuine democratic socialist, anti-imperialist and inclusive movement that can combat and defeat the rise of the populist and far-right in Britain and beyond.
It’s been a hectic few months, and certainly not the start to being Chair that I imagined, but Warwick Left Society is stronger and more determined than ever, ready to bring people into our movement and make a genuine impact, all whilst having a great time and making friends for life. Much has been done, but there is so much left to do, and we need your help.
Join Warwick Left Society to make a difference.
