Socialist Party Wales Socialism In Wales
By Dave Bartlett (Secretary, Cardiff Trades Union Council)
Around 250 assembled in Merthyr on 25 October for the first ‘all-Wales gathering’ of Your Party. The meeting was led by Beth Winter (former Labour MP) and Mark Serwotka (former general secretary of PCS) who have been given the leadership of Your Party Wales.
This was a Your Party Wales event but Your Party centrally still controls the data of the 31,000 signed up in Wales, not yet passed on to Wales. The attendees were either signed up to ‘proto-branches’ or directly with Your Party Wales.
This drew some criticism and discussion on the validity of the event. A paper from North Wales wanted to rule out the ability of the conference to make decisions. After a debate, the meeting voted overwhelmingly to continue. The irony was that, at the end, no votes were actually taken on the proposals on the agenda.
Following a four-minute video from Jeremy Corbyn, Mark Serwotka introduced the first session on core principles in which he outlined the basic programme, not dissimilar to the workers’ charter agreed at the Wales trade union conference initiated by Welsh trades councils held the week before.
He also referred to the role of the trade unions and commented that some of them are not fighting as hard as they could against the Labour government. The floor was opened to contributions, which allowed Socialist Party members to argue for affiliation by trade union and socialist organisations, and the need to fight for needs-based budgets by Welsh government and councils.
The afternoon session included debate on Your Party structures and the crucial question of standing in the Senedd elections just seven months away. Beth Winter left open the possibility of standing right across the board, as Socialist Party members urged, or just standing in targeted seats. A number of our members argued very effectively for the case of standing in every seat, pointing out that, under the D’Hondt proportional representation voting system that will be used, parties in the 16 dual constituencies can get candidates elected with 10% of the vote. Recent polls have shown the huge potential support for Your Party in Wales to completely undercut Reform.
However, some of the organisers implied that tactical voting is the way to stop Reform, referring to the Caerphilly by-election (see page 3). I don’t think they grasped the potential electoral support for Your Party.
All the positions put by Socialist Party members in the various debates drew warm support and applause: on the question of a needs-based budget to fight the cuts in Wales, on democratic structures, on the central role and weight of the trade unions, and the wide support for dual membership.
The leadership proposed the Your Party Wales Founding Conference in October 2026 – five months after the Senedd elections!
This event was positive, although mainly comprised of older activists. What it demonstrated is both the potential but also the obstacles to building Your Party as a new mass party of the working class.
