Lorcan Whitehead explains why the organisation’s work is so important

How do you transform society from one structured to enable corporate elites to extract enormous wealth while millions have barely enough to get by, into one where we own the things we need in common and everyone has enough not only to survive but flourish? That’s the ultimate question for socialists. After decades of decline for the UK left and labour movement, and the past three years in which every dirty trick has been used not just to marginalise the Labour left but drive us out of the Party altogether, it can seem extravagant to even ask that question. 

Keir Starmer promised members a version of the Corbynite programme, then tore up every pledge; he removed the whip from Jeremy Corbyn because an NEC disciplinary process didn’t deliver the result he wanted; hundreds of people have been suspended or expelled for minor infractions such as ‘liking’ a Facebook post from a proscribed group; and left-wingers are shamelessly blocked from standing in parliamentary selections on the flimsiest grounds. In this context, a more pressing question might simply be: where do we go from here?

Yet the truth is the answers to both questions are more similar than you’d think. Every historic victory of the left has grown out of committed grassroots organising, and years of training and cadre-building. 

The greatest political transformations in this country’s history have been built on these foundations: women’s suffrage, the abolition of slavery, winning rights at work we take for granted today, securing gains for the working class through the 1945 Labour government which have lasted for generations. History teaches that fundamental change is built from below, not handed down from on high. Whether our sights are set on leveraging whatever power we can to influence outcomes here and now, or building towards a horizon of socialist transformation, this kind of grassroots organising is what’s required. And that’s what Momentum is focused on: movement building for the long-term. 

For two years now we have run the Leo Panitch Leadership Programme, a course designed to train 40 left-wing activists from across the country in political education and organising skills, and give them hands-on experience working on exciting campaigns and projects. This essential work is how we build capacity and develop the socialist leaders and organisers of the future. Creating impactful campaigns, organising your colleagues at work, winning power inside the Labour Party – none of this is easy, it requires knowledge and confidence that organisers must learn. As an organisation with a wealth of skills and experience mobilising masses of people for grassroots campaigning and organising, it’s vital we build up empowered and effective organisers for fights now and in the future.

Our Future Councillors’ Programme is another essential part of our work which has been building foundations in local government since 2020. In the last decade, the left has made great strides here. Preston’s Labour council, led from the left by Matthew Brown, has implemented a successful Community Wealth Building programme that many councils are now seeking to replicate. Under our last National Coordinating Group, Momentum worked with Matthew and the Democracy Collaborative to produce a Community Wealth Building toolkit, empowering councillors to put socialist principles into action locally.

In May of this year, over one hundred socialists were elected to local government. Many of them are graduates of our programme: the fruits of a strategy and a programme which ranges from helping candidates to prepare for the selection process; to training in key organising skills such as power-mapping and building winning coalitions; and help with practical skills like application-drafting, speech-writing and public speaking. All participants who complete the course and successfully get selected and elected as councillors are then invited into our Councillors’ Network – and can then use our Community Wealth Building toolkit to push socialist policies in their area.

In our undemocratic two-party electoral system Labour remains an essential site of struggle that we must not simply cede to the right. This strategic orientation is all the more important, given Labour’s organic link to our trade unions which are rapidly moving left as the cost-of-living crisis bites. This work strengthens the foothold we already have in the Party through our majorities in Young Labour and Labour Students, a new generation of confident socialist voices in Parliament like Zarah Sultana and Nadia Whittome, and the tens of thousands of left-wing members in the Party, including many in Momentum. 

The path to socialism might not feel as immediate as in the Corbyn years – even as objective conditions make it more urgent than ever. Nor does it run through one road alone – the upsurge in worker struggle is an inspiring development which all socialists must support in the coming months, as the Tories declare war on the right to strike. Tenants unions, migrants’ groups, anti-racist organisations all have a part to play too. 

In the face of the setbacks of the past few years, it is vital that we realise that we are the legacy of Corbynism: all of us who were inspired to come together to fight for a real alternative, and the networks and institutions we’ve built – especially Momentum. The tasks of fighting the attacks on the left right now, and building towards a horizon of socialist transformation, both call for us to build from the grassroots up. Locally and institutionally, we are doing that work. But as the left struggles and inflation soars, we face financial difficulties. That’s why we’re asking people to up their subs or start a regular donation, and Keep Up Momentum. By doing so you’ll help to secure the future of an organisation which is continuing the vital task of rebuilding our socialist movement from the ground up after decades of defeat. 

You can donate to Momentum’s fundraiser here:

Lorcan Whitehead is National Secretary of Momentum.

Image: Momentum banner. Source: Momentum at the Stop Trump Rally. Author: Garry Knight, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.