Independent Candidates Are the Left’s Opportunity to Keep Labour in Check

I was out canvassing this weekend for Jeremy Corbyn, who is standing as an independent parliamentary candidate in Islington North after being barred from representing Labour, his party of 40 years. I oscillated on the decision to door knock for Corbyn; I think it is important to live in the present political reality, rather than hold on to past nostalgia. But a friend’s gentle refusal to accompany me clarified my thoughts on Corbyn, independents and the importance of taking the opportunities we are given.

My friend, who is a very committed socialist but (understandably) sceptical of parliamentary politics, explained they were unsure what it would mean for the left if Corbyn won his seat, beyond retaining his voice in the Commons. The answer for me is simple: If Corbyn can’t win as a leftwing independent, who can?

The last few years have seen a huge rise in independent candidates standing for political office. Locally, this makes sense: independents can run on hyper-specific platforms, addressing community concerns without the baggage of being attached to the major parties that dominate politics. But at a national level, independents are rarer, usually only appearing on the green benches of the Commons when they’ve had the whip removed by their party. Even insurgent candidates, like George Galloway, usually belong to a party.

Since 1950, less than 10 completely independent candidates have been elected to parliament without any party machine backing them. As professor Tim Bale writes, this is because our “electoral system, and the laws that underpin it, has been fashioned by political parties for political parties.” Independent candidates are hamstrung at every turn: by spending rules (there’s a £15,000 limit on constituency campaigns), volunteer support, and access to data, which is – for better or worse – considered the bedrock of modern politics.

But despite the strangulation of our first past the post voting system, recent by-elections have seen the beginnings of a shift. Independents have beat out candidates running on behalf of the main parties. In Rochdale earlier this year, independent challenger David Tully came second to Galloway, polling almost double the Conservative contender who took third place.

Britain’s two-party system has never looked more broken – nor more ripe for potential change, reflected in the rise of smaller parties fielding a record number of candidates. Trust in politicians has bottomed out, and with it, longstanding allegiances to the dominant parties, who now have to fight contest by contest for votes that were once automatically assured.

There is an opportunity here for leftwingers – many of whom have found themselves out in the cold as the formerly ‘broad church’ of the Labour party closes its doors – to test whether independent and minority party candidates can truly win from this side of the aisle – or at least come close enough to start putting the pressure on Labour, in the same way that Nigel Farage’s various vehicles have managed to significantly impact the last 10 years of Conservative policy.

Attempts to build progressive alliances have begun, such as with the We Deserve Better project. Understandably, some have washed their hands of electoral politics altogether. But for those who haven’t, boots are needed on the ground. Assess your local choices, sign up to support and try to win. In government, Labour will be pressed: it’s up to us whether that is from an organised left or from an insatiable hard right.