Socialist Party national organisers’ school


    Ninety Socialist Party members from every region of England and Wales attended a weekend organiser’s school in Staffordshire on 1-2 June. Siobhan Friel from Coventry reports.

    There were a lot of sessions to choose from over the weekend. I went to a discussion about British Perspectives, one on the transitional programme for socialism, a workshop on how we can increase sales of the Socialist and recruit new party members, and also sessions on Scotland and South Africa.

    I found all of them very comprehensive and enjoyable. They were also helpful, both politically and more practically, in terms of helping me develop my understanding and ability to gain support for the party.

    I found the recruitment and paper sessions particularly useful as they were set up in a way which meant everyone there spoke an almost equal amount. Nobody was given the option of not contributing – which is often tempting for shyer members!

    I greatly enjoyed the discussion on the transitional programme. I felt everyone there was challenged by different parts of the topic which meant we had a really involved discussion.

    My favourite session of the weekend was probably Scotland and the referendum. It gave a clear description of our party’s approach to the question of independence in general.

    Between the sessions there was a great atmosphere, everyone seemed to have a lot of fun and to gain a lot from the sessions. All in all, a fantastic weekend.