What “Your Party” could mean for Liverpool

Dear readers — Rejoice! Abi and Laurence have officially been reunited after the former’s stint in Malaga. While she didn’t bring home any Spanish treats for the office (terrible form, really) her return does mean The Post can go back to enjoying its usual grand team of two. And what a week we have in store for you. But first:

Catch up:

• Today's our birthday boxing day! Over the weekend, The Post turned five years old and we hope you all enjoyed the online party. If you missed it, don’t worry! You can still read Laurence’s tribute to our half-decade in local journalism:

Birthday, la! The Post is five years old

Half a decade of investigations, deep dives and cultural hot takes. Join us for many more

The PostLaurence Thompson

• We recently launched a politics edition, detailing local intrigue and gossip. Unfortunately, the gremlins in The Post’s machinery caused the premiere to only go out to a small portion of you, which means many will have missed our reporting into Labour’s conference and fringe events that week. We’re eager for feedback on this format so click here to see what you think.

Burnham, Badgers and Blue Labour: a dispatch from the King’s Dock

For our exciting new politics edition format, we sent Laurence to muckrake around the riverside

The PostLaurence Thompson

• Did you know that (according to Richard Osman last year) over the last decade, a band has been number one in the charts for only three weeks? Well, one Liverpool band is staging a comeback. Over the weekend, we published this lovely piece by freelancer Lucy Green into Cast. We think it’s a great piece about an underrated facet of Liverpool’s rich cultural history. Even if you aren’t a fan of the Scousepop super-group, give a look here.

Cast, the Scouse underdogs bringing guitar back

Fresh off supporting Oasis, the Britpop leg-ends hit the Olympia soon. Lucy Green catches them in New York

The PostLucy Green

The big story: What “Your Party” might mean for Liverpool

Top line: Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn are back on the same page. But could their new left-wing venture start a new chapter in Merseyside politics? 

Context: Last Thursday, the classical Victorian splendor of St George’s Hall hosted the co-founders of Your Party, Coventry MP Zarah Sultana and Islington North mainstay Jeremy Corbyn. Surrounded by the sombre marble effigies of Liverpool’s industrial, philanthropic and political past such as Williams Brown, Roscoe and Gladstone, a capacity crowd contributed to an atmosphere of tentative optimism. 

“Tentative,” of course, because the fissures in the party — visible before its actual founding — are no secret. Back in July, leaked WhatsApps showed a split between Sultana and Corbyn’s factions. And last month, the disputes spread to social media, with Corbyn seemingly threatening legal action over Sultana unilaterally releasing a membership portal and Sultana describing a “sexist boy’s club” and consulting defamation lawyers in response. 

Meanwhile, 800,000 sign-ups initially enthused about a populist left-wing alternative to the major parties may have felt tempted by the Greens, who have surged in the polls and membership numbers under new leader Zack Polanski’s short but scandal-less tenure. 

The event at St George’s Hall was an effective re-launch, an attempt to show solidarity between the nascent party’s two totemic figures who, after weeks of mediation, have ostensibly put their differences and legal teams aside.

At this, it was moderately successful. Corbyn and Sultana sat at opposite ends of the line of speakers, and their one moment of physical contact — Sultana attempting to raise Corbyn’s hand in mutual celebration — was awkward and unconvincing. Sultana apologised for her part in the acrimony, while Corbyn appeared keen to move on from it. Both seemed to be on the same page of the contemporary left-wing catechism: refugees should be welcomed; Israel's military actions in Gaza must come to an end; billionaires, not immigrants, are to blame for the country’s woes; trans women are women and trans rights are human rights; and the spectre of fascism is on the rise, this time in the personage of Nigel Farage and Reform. 

Corbyn made reference to the Liverpool dockers’ dispute in the mid 90s and the many times he has spoken in the hall going back to Tony Benn's challenge to Labour deputy leader Dennis Healey the early 80s. In her speech, Sultana stressed her connections to Liverpool: her great-uncle arrived here from Kashmir 70 years ago, which is at least one of the reasons she supports Liverpool Football Club. Her calling the latter “the greatest team in the world” drew friendly boos from at least half the audience. 

But there were some points of genuine interest for Liverpudlians. The event’s emcee was Liverpool Orrell Park councillor Alan Gibbons — incidentally, one of the embattled members of that WhatsApp group leaked to The Times in July. Liverpool-based multidisciplinary artist Tayo Aluko — who is having a busy fortnight — performed John Lennon’s “Imagine.” One of the speakers was Garston councillor Lucy Williams, who may also be known to readers for her passionate role in the ultimately unsuccessful battle to save Marie Curie’s inpatient unit. Williams’ co-councillor, Sam Gorst, was also in attendance — in fact, he briefly mistook The Post’s reporter for a potential security risk, noting Laurence “looked heavy” and “had your head in your hands”; thankfully, local activist Audrey White recognised Laurence before the Garston councillor could alert the authorities. Speaking of White, at his speech’s commencement, Corbyn approvingly held up a copy of the Merseyside Pensioners Association’s manifesto. 

Gibbons, Williams and Gorst were members of the Community Independents group on Liverpool city council. As we reported back in 2023, their victories as candidates unaffiliated with any major party were massively unexpected. All three are now members of Your Party, and may play a formidable role advising the new political venture on how to break ground and cause upsets in local elections both further afield and in Liverpool itself. 

For many The Post spoke with afterwards, the highlight of the night was not Sultana’s passionate, crowd-pleasing and at times foul-mouthed address, nor Corbyn’s powerful oration. (Whatever you think of the former Labour leader, he is an exemplary public speaker even amongst professional politicians.) Instead, the most impressive was Williams’ nervous but heartfelt speech, in which she contrasted the opulence of St George’s with the penury of her ward. Williams raised the plight of tenants, patients, and healthcare workers; called for a party built on solidarity and a politics for the people; linked local struggles to international catastrophes; and challenged the audience to follow in her and Gorst’s footsteps and throw their hats into the ring to become local councillors themselves. 

Bottom line: At a recent Labour Party conference fringe event, Festival Gardens councillor Peter Norris remarked that the ruling party and the prime minister Keir Starmer are “very toxic” on Liverpool doorsteps. Fearful that the so-called “people’s republic” of Liverpool is much more anti-Tory than pro-Labour, the latter are focusing on the threat of Reform right now, as recent polls have projected Farage’s populists to take several Merseyside seats if an election were called tomorrow. 

But if Your Party can tap into a local, communitarian ethos inspired by left-wing independent successes, embodied by Williams’ speech, and symbolised by a packed St George’s Hall apparently hungry for something other than politics-as-usual, maybe they too can make inroads into previously safe Labour wards and seats. They have all their work still ahead of them, but if a week is a long time in politics, the time between now and the next local or general election is an eternity to get things right. Your Party's founding conference will be held in Liverpool on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th November, so watch this space.

Photo of the week

Have a photo you want to submit to The Post? Email it to editor@livpost.co.uk for a chance to be featured in our Monday briefings.

Your Post briefing

Liverpool-based start-up Harker has launched a new platform that will transform how homelessness charities support vulnerable people. Founded by 24-year-old University of Liverpool graduate James Barber, Harker has built software to collect data to help identify the root cause of an individual’s homelessness, allowing charities to save time and allocate resources to people more quickly and efficiently. It is the first software of its kind built from the ground up to specifically support homelessness charities. “Harker is the largest project I have led, and by far the most exciting and impactful,” founder James Barber said. “I’m really excited to see the way it will transform the way that homelessness charities support some of the most vulnerable people in our society.” So are we, James!

In yet another strange move by Wirral Council, what looks like giant wotsits have been painted across Grange Road West in Birkenhead as a traffic calming measure. A council spokesperson said the "coloured surfacing design represents an eye-catching but straightforward way of changing the dynamics of the street without the need for major civil work" — but residents and local businesses have a different view. One customer at the Charing Cross Pub, which sits at one end of the street, said the colour and shape of the design "reminds me of giant Wotsits", while another resident described the designs as “a mess”. Take a look for yourself here…

On the grapevine: Filming has officially begun for the new season of BBC crime drama This City is Ours. We know this not just because of the usual press releases circulated online, but because Abi found herself sitting in a bar in Fuengirola, Spain last week, chatting to one member of the programme’s art department. While most of the show is set in Liverpool, several episodes also include cutaways to Spain — most of which are being filmed in Malaga as we speak. The cast for the new season of the show include Liverpool actor James Nelson-Joyce, who is returning as leading gang member Michael Kavanagh, alongside Hannah Onslow, who returns as his partner, Diana Williams. While Abi is dying to reveal the twists and turns of season two discussed over tapas in a Fuengirolan bar, she’s been sworn to secrecy, we’re afraid…

Post Picks

🍷Spilt Wine returns to the Hightown Inn tomorrow for a wine tasting evening. Enjoy five autumnal wines and learn about their origins in a laid back environment — find out more here.

🎨Why not try an untaught session of life drawing at Pocket Cafe this week? The session is on Wednesday, with all materials provided. Find out more here.

💃From Friday onwards, enjoy 15 days of Indian music, dance and culture across the Liverpool city region as part of INDIKA festival. Events will take place across iconic venues including The Tung Auditorium, Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room, Unity Theatre, Future Yard, The Everyman and Liverpool Central Library. Milap will also be teaming up with Bundobust this year for a special Diwali celebration. Find out more here.

If someone forwarded you this newsletter, click here to sign up to get quality local journalism in your inbox.