“A dozen or so”: Your Party in Scotland has "dwindled into obscurity"

Niall Christie is a committed and experienced activist who took up Scotland’s ‘place’ on Your Party’s Central Executive Committee. Then, on the basis that the party has 'run out of road', he resigned. Now it’s time to learn the lessons of what’s gone wrong.

Casting my vote this week was not how I had foreseen myself doing so just a month or two ago.

Instead of again trudging to the ballot box to vote (in my case, Green in the constituency and SSP on the list), my hope was that there would be a fresh, socialist alternative to put my cross next to.

That was not to be. The party I’d hoped to give my vote to - which I had joined last year along with thousands of other enthusiastic individuals - has since dwindled into obscurity before it was ever established.

Of course, I’m talking about Your Party. More than most - having been elected to, sat on, and resigned from the party’s Central Executive Committee since the start of the year - I’ve seen the promise it had, and the let-down it turned out to be.

While a full post-mortem can’t take place while the barely-alive party trundles on with a dozen or so loyalists in Scotland, I think it’s fair to look at what went wrong, and crucially, what we cannot do again.

With Your Party, part of its great early promise was its ability to be all things for all people. What you wanted out of a political project could be projected onto it. But that false expectation-setting from the get-go was also a huge factor in its downfall.

Such a promise can work, but it would require central figures who put significant efforts into decentralisation and member engagement. Without that, Your Party became a centralised project with tens of thousands of members who wanted to input. As time went on it became obvious that wouldn’t be an option, and people drifted away.

For socialists in Scotland and everywhere in Britain looking to build what’s next, Your Party has shown that you can have a centralised leadership model, or you can have an engaged membership, but the two will quickly clash in spectacular fashion. For a party or project to succeed, it must choose between a top-down approach and one of decentralisation - trying to do both will only end in failure.

This bureaucratic tension also led to another fatal flaw in Your Party’s model, and a mistake that cannot be repeated. In its months-long formation period - which remains ongoing and looks likely to drag on for months yet - very little in the way of political discussion took place.

Those at the grassroots were constantly blocked from taking any decisions for themselves. (Proto-) branches couldn’t afford to hire rooms to meet. There was no way to table policy proposals.

All in, the most promising new left-wing political movement in decades took on a largely apolitical character, alienating those most dedicated and engaged supporters that it should be able to rely on. If the left in Scotland is to come together again, it needs to have a distinctly political character. It need not have all the answers, but a clear mission and vision must be laid out at the outset, with its full programme shaped by members and the movement it is rooted in.

Most importantly, as we look forward to what can be built in Scotland in the face of this failed project, and the rise of the right, one important conclusion can be reached.

Until Your Party a theory existed, and in some quarters was seen as the greatest hope for socialism in Scotland: a Britain-wide political party, which saw those north of the border as equal partners. Having been through the Your Party saga, and seen the way Scotland was overruled, and even forgotten, that theory has been firmly disproven. Even a party led by Jeremy Corbyn - a leader of the movement and a national political figure, couldn’t make it work.

But mainly, I’d say, because trust has broken down. In my time in Your Party, and in particular on the CEC, decisions made in Scotland were ignored in London. Senior office holders bypassed elected members and bodies north of the border. Votes taken in Scotland were in some cases reversed by those in charge of the party. That won’t soon be forgotten, and many won’t put their faith in an island-wide project now - which makes one decision easier in one sense as we move forward.

I firmly believe now is not the time to cede ground to the right, or settle for the lesser of evils. Scotland has a vibrant left-wing culture. It has an anti-war movement and trade union movement that has kept the left going when no party has sustained it. Now is the time though for those forces to come together and be that party - one which can be the voice of the movement, but also works on the ground to grow the movement it represents.

This “party” may not look like a traditional party. It may not strictly be a party - looking more like an alliance or coalition of the type Scotland has been crying out for. What I do know though is that myself and others will be putting in the work to make sure that whatever is needed works. I hope others will join us.

Published 7 May 2026

The announcement by Zarha Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn that they were to launch what became ‘Your Party’ generated interest and debate amongst Democratic Left Scotland’s members, supporters and friends. We’d be interested in publishing current reflections on the prospects and ways ahead for left organising in today’s changed circumstances.

Niall Christie has written previously for the DLS website: click here for his review of a book which assessed the opportunities of the UK Labour government as it took office.