On Thursday 11 September, Sheffield Socialist Party hosted a public meeting, introduced by Socialist Party general secretary Hannah Sell, Sheffield Socialist Party’s Hollie Buisson and chaired by Isabelle France.
Spirits were high and debate was lively, with 60 in the room and 9 on Zoom. A layer of new faces, experienced members, people who’d not been at meetings for a while and a local journalist all came to hear us.
Hannah spoke about the challenges ahead for a new party, drawing from the experience of previous left-wing governments, as well as putting forward the case for a federal structure, with branches and delegates from campaign groups and trade unions.
From the floor, discussion ranged from Zack Polanski becoming the leader of the Greens and what that could mean under a federal structure, to needs-based budgets, nationalising of the banks and learning the lessons from the Militant-led Liverpool council.
Post meeting, many who attended came to the pub, giving a chance for people to discuss informally the points brought up in the meeting.
- If you want to come to a Socialist Party meeting near you, head to socialistparty.org.uk/events to find your nearest branch
