Mercedes Villalba MSP reflects on standing down from the Scottish Parliament.

I stood for election in 2021 because I wanted to see a socialist on the ballot for Labour. I stayed the term once elected because I wanted trade unionists and the Labour Left to have a strong voice in Parliament. Prior to the election I had never set foot in Parliament, did not know what the work of a Member involved beyond speaking in the chamber and did not comprehend quite how lawless political parties could be.

There is little to compel a party to follow its own rules and even less to hold it to account when it breaks them. Such breaches are anyway ‘spun’ to be presented as in some way necessary or reasonable, and when enough voices agree (or enough stay silent), the line is set and becomes the new reality.

Needless to say, such an environment is not conducive to effective teamwork. Yet, despite the doublespeak, the gaslighting and the force-fed banality, many principled and tenacious people remain committed to the idea that the Parliamentary Labour Party should act as the political wing of the trade union movement. How and why?

Because everything that happens in the Labour Party between those with power and those without is, in comparison to the ruthless global economy, safe, cosy and fairly polite. And because to have any hope of remaking that unjust global system which perpetuates so much inequality, having a Party to act as our political wing in the arena of parliamentary politics is a necessary tool in our struggle.

That means not just joining such a Party, or even simply engaging with its structures, but organising to run it in a way that works in the interest of our class as opposed to that of capitalists. This is why I believe socialists stay and continue to work within the Party. It’s why I do and will.

But clearly, when we are few, this is more difficult than when we are many. And so, at a time when Party membership appears to be declining and trade union membership is facing long-term decline, attempting to organise for socialism from within Parliament feels like attempting to steer a critically damaged ship while bailing out the water flooding in. Until our ideas have captured the imagination of the nation, we will not change the Party, the Government or the country.

It’s true that we came close to this in 2017 under principled, honest and down-to-earth leaders. We saw a huge influx in members in some parts of the UK and an effective debunking of ‘austerity’ in public spending, but it wasn’t enough.

So while I still believe it’s vital to have strong message carriers to amplify our message on the national stage, it’s just as vital to have a vibrant network of grassroots activists and diligent policy advocates. But crucially, we must coordinate each of these parts of our movement.

And I don’t know if what I do next will help, but I know that sitting in Holyrood voting on non-binding self-congratulatory government motions and responding to thousands of

identical emails from third sector single issue campaigns advances our class not one inch and seems to me to be exactly the kind of busy work that Mr. Moneybags would like to see workers’ representatives tied up in.

I’m proud of my record in Parliament. Of championing Scotland’s tenants’ call for a rent freeze, of campaigning to wrest the capitalists’ grip on our common land to bring it back to the people, and of working with trade unions for a jobs-first energy transition. But in standing down from Parliament, I am not leaving the campaigning arena. I leave strong socialists in Holyrood but feel my place is, for the time being, in communities, on the streets, in the grassroots. In short, I’m joining you all in placing my faith in our comrades who are staying aboard to chart the ship while I disembark to focus on repairing the hull.

I’ve been asked “Where do you go from here?” so let me assure Labour Hub readers that it is not my intention to re-invent the wheel. The left is fortunate to have a number of socialist membership bodies, associations, policy hubs, and publications. We are not short of ideas and we do not need another data capture initiative. But, frankly, we have not been as organised as those in the pay of the capitalists. Granted, we do not have their capital, naturally, but we have the potential to outnumber and surpass them.

The far right are growing, increasing their support from disenfranchised workers, members of our class, by capitalising on inequality, on the hollowing out of our public services and the neglect of the health and wellbeing of our people. We ignore this threat at our peril. We must refocus our efforts to unite and fight and win.

This must start by bringing together the disparate parts of our movement uniting in common cause so that through coordination we can reach every community in Scotland, linking our campaigns and strengthening our collective.

That is the call and I hope you will join me in answering it.

Mercedes Villalba was elected as a Member of the Scottish Parliament on the North East Scotland list in May 2021.

Image: Mercedes Villalba at a demonstration for a ceasefire in Gaza outside Scottish Parliament Building, 21st November 2023. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ceasefire_demonstration_outside_Scottish_Parliament_Building,_21_November_2023_-_Mercedes_Villalba_2.jpg. Author: Pretzelles,  licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.