TUSC statement
Outline details have been agreed for a broad convention of campaign groups and socialist organisations considering standing candidates in the general election – to organise a common working-class challenge for the contest that will take place at some point in 2024.
The convention date has been set for Saturday 3 February, in Birmingham, at a venue to be announced.
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) all-Britain steering committee had invited around 30 campaign groups and socialist organisations to co-host a gathering to discuss an election challenge. TUSC had received replies from organisations representing 14 of them by the time of its 22 November meeting.
Five organisations so far have agreed to be convention co-hosts – the Socialist Party, System Change (formerly Resist), the Campaign for a Mass Workers’ Party, Socialist Students, and the TUSC Independent Socialists section. The Social Justice Party and Just Stop Oil are still consulting, and the interim committee of the new Transform Party were not in a position to make a decision before their now-completed inaugural conference on 25 November.
A Convention Arrangements Committee has been agreed, composed of the five organisations and the TUSC officers – which, however, is still open to those who subsequently decide that they wish to co-host the event.
Convention representation
The proposed representation at the Convention hopefully strikes a balance between making it an open, inclusive event, but also ensuring its ‘working character’ as a body able to reach concrete conclusions.
- Every campaign group or socialist organisation that is considering supporting or standing candidates in the general election, whether they formally co-host the Convention or not, can appoint up to ten delegates to represent their organisation at the event
- Any individual member of a trade union national executive committee (in a personal capacity), section or group executive committee member, or elected union branch officer or workplace rep, can also attend with voice
- Every resigned-from-Labour or independent socialist councillor can attend on the same basis
- All individual members of TUSC – who are not members of a TUSC component organisation or otherwise represented at the Convention – will also be able to attend with voice
- There will also be Zoom available for visitors
Get involved – get organised!
