Election Appeal: Put your money where the struggle is!


Ken Douglas, national treasurer, Socialist Party

At its recent national congress the Socialist Party launched an appeal to raise £15,000 to help finance our 2014 election campaigns.

Across England, Socialist Party members are getting ready to stand alongside members of the RMT rail union, other trade unionists and community campaigners in the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) to mount the biggest left-of-Labour challenge since the end of World War Two.

We have a battle in these elections to make TUSC as visible as possible so the media gives the coverage it should to our challenge.

We need to make sure in our local campaigning that TUSC leaflets, banners, posters, postcards and other material are widely available and prominent at every protest against cuts and privatisation, at every picket line and demonstration.

Socialists everywhere have been inspired by the success of Kshama Sawant and Socialist Alternative in the Seattle city council elections in the US.

The power of Kshama’s campaign was based on the appeal of her socialist programme and particularly the demand for $15 an hour minimum wage to the thousands of ordinary people who made relatively small donations to her campaign.

These donations enabled Kshama to mount an effective challenge to the candidate backed by all the financial might of big business.

Southampton rebel councillors Keith Morell and Don Thomas have generated a groundswell of support for their stand against the cuts and won £1.6 million to refurbish the local swimming pool that the council was going to close.

TUSC will be standing city-wide in Southampton and other areas; the press, the political establishment and the television companies will try to brush away the TUSC challenge. We must make sure we have the funds and the support so they can’t ignore us!

The Socialist Party is also participating in the ‘No2EU – Yes to workers’ rights’ list in the European elections being held at the same time.

Socialist Party members are standing in a number of seats. Dave Nellist heads the list in the West Midlands and leading trade unionist Roger Bannister leads the challenge against the racist BNP’s Nick Griffin in the North West.

In addition we also aim to raise £4,000 to help finance the election campaign of the new Workers And Socialist Party (WASP) in South Africa.

Moses Mayekiso, the inaugural general secretary of Numsa, the metal workers’ union, is heading WASP’s election list.

These campaigns all explain that the working class needs to build new mass parties to replace those like the Labour Party that speak only for big business and the crisis-ridden capitalist system. Fewer than 400 individuals worldwide own as much wealth as three and a half billion people so we need parties that represent the billions, not the billionaires!

Can you make a donation to support this historic challenge? Can you donate £10, £20 or £100 or more? Every pound will take us closer to our target and will make a difference in this campaign.

You can donate via our website www.socialistparty.org.uk/donate or telephone 020 8988 8777