SPEW and elections
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WOW. That takes some compiling*.
I also engaging with someone at the same time on X. Each reply I got 3 replies!!!!
My last reply was that I was a Marxist not a Leninist and blocked them.
I thought about it afterwards, I could have said:
Not a Bolshevik
Not a Leninist
Not a Stalinist
not a Trotskyist
not a Maoist,
not a Che Guevaraist
not a Kim Jong Unist…..
Not a KeynesistThe same clown said we should read a book…
Funny, that the Party has its own Library at our Clapham High Street HO, ostensibly for reference purposes.
Most members are encouraged to read books, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist, to see the play. Conditions Of The Working Class –
Engels. Popular with members, Free Is Cheaper. News From Nowhere – William Morris.
On the subject of William Morris, Habitat, Argos and Sainsbury’s are selling his wallpaper, Duvet covers, towels and soft furnishings all with his beautiful design prints.Never been to number 52 but it is safe to say the library is not ‘ostensibly’ for reference purposes, it IS for reference purposes.
Never been to number 52 but it is safe to say the library is not ‘ostensibly’ for reference purposes, it IS for reference purposes.
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lol I posted about this on TikTok, but I didn’t mention it wasn’t a public Library, members only.My reply was to someone on TikTok who told us to read a book. I then suggested he might like to consider contacting the Party via HO? Rather than insult and disrespect the Party online. I blocked them.
SPEW, which contests elections under the pretentious title of TUSC, the so-called “Trade Union and Socialist Coalition”, has recently registered a new variant of this name that can appear on the ballot paper — Independent Trade Union and Socialist Coalition:
https://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/Registrations/PP804
Presumably they are trying to attract some of those leftists who stood as “Independents” in the general election.
Or maybe to avoid confusion with this group:
Looking for something else I came across this blast from the blast — the birth of SPEW in 1997. We get a mention 4 minutes in:
Who says SPEW is not a reformist outfit?
Scroll down to what their candidate in a local by-election in North London yesterday told a local community news site what he stood for:
St Ann’s by-election candidates make their pitch for your votes
Not a word about socialism. Which of course is a good thing.
Here is SPEW’s position on this May’s local elections:
““This May TUSC has agreed that we will not be standing against Your Party candidates and, if there are Green councillors or candidates who sign the trade union petition to Zack Polanski, we will not stand in competition with them too. We can’t know in advance what position Zack will take on the petition’s call – we would very much welcome the Green Party throwing its councillors into the battle against austerity but that will very probably not be his stance – but if a prospective Green candidate is prepared to sign the petition that’s a better indication that they might resist the pressure for cuts from the council officers (and their less determined fellow councillors) than any amount of verbal ‘opposition’ to austerity in general.
“Of course, it is true that petitioning Green and Your Party candidates to take a stand is not the same as trade unions having their own candidates running, directly subject to the democratic accountability of the union members. It puts the working class and its organisations in a similar position to where we were at the end of the 19th century, without a party of our own and seeking out individual ‘friends of labour’ to articulate workers’ interests.
“That’s why TUSC will be stepping up its support for the campaign in the trade unions for them to take the necessary measures to establish their own political voice; including by encouraging as many trade unionists, socialists and working-class community candidates as possible to stand in May’s elections – alongside Your Party and genuine anti-austerity Greens”.
https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/147421/04-02-2026/greens-must-pledge-no-cuts-to-services/
Like the accompanying picture of what the Greens stand for — “We have a plan” and “Fair Taxation now”.
SPEW and Your Party
TUSC will not stand against Your Party
2.1 That includes working with Your Party, launched by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana in 2025.
The TUSC all-Britain steering committee is clear: it will not authorise TUSC candidates to stand against candidates who appear on the ballot paper under the Your Party name and we have included a new question in this year’s Application Form To Use A TUSC Description to ensure that
there will not be any such clashes.
2.2 The founding documents of Your Party, discussed at its conference in November 2025 and agreed in an online ballot, recognise that the 2026 local elections will be unique for the party given
the “time constraints” of the official nomination process for the elections (see page six) and “the absence of agreed branch structures” as the party foundation process unfolds. The party’s first
Central Executive Committee (CEC), for example, will not take office until the end of February, and the establishment of official branches – at inaugural meetings attended by at least 20% of the
members in a given constituency under the agreed constitution – will not begin until the CEC is in place.
2.3 This is not to say that there will definitely be no candidates standing under the Your Party name in May. Your Party has been registered with the Electoral Commission and the description is
available to be used on the ballot paper. But, as is also the case for all candidates using any description other than ‘Independent’ on the ballot paper, it is a matter of election law that a
prospective candidate has to be issued with a formal Certificate of Authorisation from the party’s ‘Registered Nominating Officer’ before a registered description can be used.
2.4 The properly-issued Certificate of Authorisation has to be handed in to the council’s Returning Officer along with the official nomination papers before the close of nominations (see pages 8-10).
For May’s English council elections this is 19 working days before polling day – 9th April – a very tight timetable. There will almost certainly be Your Party supporters who want to stand as a clear
anti-austerity, anti-war socialist candidate but will not be able to be agreed as an official Your Party
candidate in time. They will be more than welcome to use one of the TUSC descriptions to distinguish themselves from right-wing or non-political ‘Independents’ on this occasion if they wish”.https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026-Guide-for-Candidates-Agents.pdf
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