Nick Hawkesford, Devon Socialist Party
There was a Socialist Party campaign stall happening on my local high street, and I was intrigued.
I had always considered myself on the left politically. Though, for years, I had felt politically homeless.
I did not belong in any of the mainstream parties. Labour was in thrall to its capitalist wing.
The Green Party lacks any serious class analysis. Through my experiences online, I was beginning to lose hope in left politics.
When I spoke to the people running the Socialist Party stall, I was rather shocked to hear there was a party which seemed to align very closely with my own ideals. A party that was unabashedly Marxist in its analysis, democratic in its processes, and willing to put forth a left-wing economic argument.
So I stuck around for the stall and chatted, and agreed to come down to the next stall that was in my town.
A week later, and there I was again.
The more I heard, the more I realised that this was a party of people who were not in this for some aesthetic reason, as was often the case in online circles. But, instead, these were people who were ready and willing to give up their time and money for a cause that they, and evidently I, believed in.
When I was asked to join the Socialist Party at the end of that stall, it was a no-brainer. Torquay high street may not have been the place I would have bet on to have found a party of revolutionary socialists. But I am very glad it was, because I have not regretted a moment since.
If you’re interested in joining the socialists get in touch!
