London borough council elections
The Socialist Party is standing candidates in three wards in Lambeth..
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Capitalism, the system we live under, is divided into two classes: the privileged few who own the places where wealth is produced and services provided; and the rest of us who have nothing to sell except our working skills and which economic necessity compels us to sell to an employer for a wage or a salary.
In Lambeth this division is written plainly in the things you need but can’t afford, in the strain on services, and in the constant worry that is part of life under capitalism.
The other candidates say that these hardships can be remedied by new councillors, new policies or new regulations. But governments and councils exist to administer the capitalist system. So long as the places where wealth is produced remain the property of a minority, so long will production be carried on for profit and not for use, and so long will the needs of the many be sacrificed to the interests of the few.
We are standing not to manage capitalism but to make the case for replacing it with socialism: a system of society based on the common ownership and democratic control of the means and instruments for producing and distributing wealth by and in interests of the whole community.
Socialism means production solely for use and not for profit and free access to the wealth produced. It means the abolition of class domination and privilege and the production for profit and working for wages that goes with them. It is not state-run capitalism, but a world system of cooperative production for human need.
No leader or politicians can bring this about for you. And we are not offering to. It is something that you have to do yourselves by organising to win political control, not to run capitalism, but to end it.
If you agree with this, vote for our candidates in Brixton North, Clapham Common & Abbeville, Stockwell West & Larkhall.
In the other wards, write ‘SOCIALISM’ across your ballot paper.
We stand for the many
We want to send a message to the establishment: Lambeth is one of the most unequal boroughs in London. High rents, insecure work, and overstretched services exist alongside great wealth and profits. This division is not caused by poor local management. It’s exactly how a system based on profit is supposed to operate.
The career politicians of other parties offer slightly different ways of running the same system but we seek real change.
We stand for SOCIALISM: ‘The establishment of a system of society based upon the common ownership and democratic control of the means and instruments for producing and distributing wealth by and in the interest of the whole community’. That is no private landlords, no wages system, and no buying and selling.
Our candidates do not seek power or privilege. If elected, they will act as mandated delegates, using their position to oppose policies that harm your interests and to argue openly for socialism.
If you want more than cosmetic change, Vote Socialist.
Housing for use, not for profit
Lambeth’s housing crisis is not the result of poor council management or the wrong policies, but of a system that treats homes as commodities. Rents and house prices are far beyond what most workers can afford, tens of thousands are on housing waiting lists, and thousands of families are stuck in temporary accommodation. Developers, landlords, and housing providers profit from scarcity, while workers are forced to compete with one another for somewhere to live.
Schemes labelled ‘affordable housing’ do not solve this crisis. Rents set at a percentage of the market are still unaffordable, and shared ownership and housing association homes tie people to lifelong debt. Poor conditions, overcrowding, and insecurity persist because housing under capitalism is built, allocated, and maintained according to cost and profit, not human need. Local councils, including Lambeth, operate within these limits and cannot abolish rents, mortgages, or homelessness.
The Socialist Party stands for a different solution: the abolition of the market in housing altogether. We argue for common ownership of land and housing, production for use not profit, and free access to homes based on need. In a socialist society there would be no landlords, no rent, no housing registers, and no homelessness.
Socialism: freedom, equality, solidarity
Socialists are against authoritarianism, privilege and division. We are for freedom, equality, and solidarity. These can only be achieved in a society based on common ownership and democratic control by the whole people.
Freedom means genuine freedom of thought and expression as well as freedom from having to work for wages. We are fully committed to defending open debate and independent thinking. No government or corporation should silence the voices of working people or control how people think and live.
Equality means that every human being is of equal worth regardless of ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. We stand for a society of social coexistence based on mutual respect.
Solidarity is the shared commitment to live together with respect, cooperation, and collective responsibility. We stand with working people, defending unity over division and cooperation over conflict.
Capitalism works against these principles. We oppose this economic system that concentrates wealth and power in the hands of a few whilst exploiting the vast majority and that puts profits before people. We oppose the wars it inevitably generates over markets and resources.
We are not standing to manage capitalism locally. If elected, we will be an uncompromising voice for workers in every decision that affects them, making the case for a social revolution to replace capitalism with a society based on common ownership, democratic control, and production directly to meet people’s needs not profits.
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