Labour’s time in government has been rocky, and even student politics on campus has not been spared from division over the direction of the Starmer government. Over the summer, the Manchester Labour Students society decided to de-affiliate from the Labour Party, in order to support Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s newly created Your Party, and rebranded as Manchester Student Left.
In light of these developments, a new iteration of Manchester Labour Students was created to maintain Labour’s presence on campus. To understand this split, and what it means for student, regional, and national politics, we separately interviewed Gus, chair of Manchester Student Left (Student Left), and Hamza and Ben, co-chair and head of engagement, of Manchester Labour Students (Labour Students).
First to sit down with us was Gus, a 3rd year Politics and Modern History student, who described Student Left as a “socialist and anti-imperialist” society, organising on campus. He emphasised that the society is a continuation of the previous iteration of Labour Students, continuing their previous campaigns and engagement with the same societies on campus.
Hamza, also a 3rd year Politics and Modern History student, and Ben, a postgraduate Urban Regeneration and Development student who works full-time in local government, pointed out that there was nothing unique about a new iteration of Labour Students being set up. Ben shared with us that a long-time SU worker estimated that this was the “fifth iteration of Labour Students” in the University’s recent history. Hamza emphasised his desire for the society to be a broad church as long as they are committed to the Labour cause.
All stated that they wanted their respective societies to build a strong community. Ben highlighted that for many young people interested in politics, university is often the first chance they get to meet other politically-minded young people. Gus said that while he does not view Student Left strictly as a ‘political party society’, but a society centred on “political education, community building, and campaigning.”
Manchester Labour Students said they aimed to create a “safe space” for those on the centre-left to have “frank political conversations.” They also emphasised that the society would be campaigning for the Labour Party, arguing that door-knocking is a great opportunity for students to engage politically with the broader community and to fend off the rising threat from Reform across Greater Manchester.
In both interviews, however, there was a clear emphasis on their independence from their broader parties, with all being clear that they are not and do not wish to be representatives for the leadership of any party.
While Gus said it would be a struggle to find “a single person on the Labour Left” who has not considered leaving the party in the last five years, the impetus for leaving came in the summer. By this point, the working relationship with the national Labour Students body had broken down. On the body, Gus said the following: “Labour Students isn’t a democratic organisation. It’s not a serious organisation. It’s an unserious organisation with lots of people who take it very seriously.” Gus argued that the lack of voting at national Labour Students’ recent Congress demonstrated it was no longer democratic; however, the organisation still holds biannual elections for its leadership.
It was unsurprising, given this view of national Labour Students, that many members of the previous iteration of Labour Students wished to disaffiliate from Labour when Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn established Your Party. Following the lead of Warwick and Newcastle Labour societies, the entire committee, except for Hamza, voted to disaffiliate from the Labour Party. Gus commented that this decision boosted Student Left’s attendance, with many who had previously not engaged due to the society’s Labour affiliation getting involved.
Following Manchester Student Left’s establishment, Hamza and Ben took the lead on setting up a new Labour Students “with backing from [national] Labour Students.” Coordinating with the other co-chair, Keir, who had also applied to set up a new iteration of Labour Students, the new society was born. Other than Hamza, who had been Global Majority officer, the entire committee had not been involved with the previous iteration of Labour Students. Reflecting on the new society, it was made clear that they did not want “ideological purity” and that they wanted to avoid a “disconnect” from Greater Manchester, which they believed existed with the previous iteration.
When asked about their views on the current Labour government, the tone between the two societies could not have been more different. Student Left’s Gus was sharply critical of Labour’s direction under Starmer: while there were “some positive steps” such as the recently proposed Employment Rights Bill, Labour’s stance on Gaza was a key reason for disillusionment with Gus alleging that Labour was an “active participant in the genocide of Palestinians”.
By contrast, Labour Student’s Hamza and Ben were much more forgiving. While accepting that Starmer has “historically low approval ratings,” Hamza was quick to retort that “every single Prime Minister consecutively over the last…15 years has had that decline” as well. Both were quick to list numerous perceived achievements, including lower NHS waiting times, free breakfast clubs for school children, and re-nationalising parts of the rail network – an agenda they described as “solidly left-wing and socialist”, but also “realistic […] electable”. Still, both were willing to acknowledge some of Labour’s shortcomings, with Hamza admitting that Labour has “struggled to listen, sometimes”. Ben also expressed disappointment in the party’s leadership for not being more supportive of trans rights.
But for Labour Students, local context is particularly important. “We have to remember that Greater Manchester, outside of the city centre, is a Brexit-voting, highly socially-conservative area”, Ben shared. To them, pragmatism and compromise are not a betrayal of the party’s principles, but a means to build a viable and sustaining electoral coalition. While Ben acknowledged that many of Labour’s coalition may hold viewpoints that those further to the left disagree with, he emphasised the importance of acknowledging the reality that socially conservative voters “are now making up a majority in the country.”
This pragmatism also stems from a sense of urgency. Both Hamza and Ben frequently emphasised the rise of Reform as a real and tangible threat, both across Greater Manchester and at a national level. “In the next two years, Tameside, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, Bolton, Wigan – maybe even Salford – are all at risk from Reform,” Ben warned. For them, the next general election represents a decisive turning point. “It’s going to be Keir Starmer or Nigel Farage – and all these things that we hold dear, these left-wing, liberal, socialist values, they’d be decimated.” This sense of political stakes feeds directly into their society’s emphasis on campaigning, describing it as a missed opportunity to not mobilise students on campus and making it clear that “we don’t want to go down this path.”
While Student Left’s Gus also acknowledged the threat of Reform, he proposed a markedly different solution. For him, confronting the far-right requires offering “a genuine socialist alternative – something that doesn’t just espouse hate and serve the interests of the super-rich”. Going further, Gus highlighted the danger in Labour’s failure to distinguish itself morally or politically from Reform by “perpetuating narratives around migrants, which honestly, seems indistinguishable from Reform”. When pushed about the risks of fractionalising the left-wing vote, Gus acknowledged that it was “a shame”, but also that there were “very strong segments of society that will never, ever vote Labour again.”
Looking at the broader left-wing political landscape, Gus commented that while “everyone” involved with Your Party has been embarrassed by tensions between Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn, local branches are “organising really well.” Gus claimed that most Your Party members are not happy with the socially conservative views of some of the Your Party-aligned Independent Alliance MPs. This view was reflected by Labour Student’s Ben, who argued that these MPs, bar Corbyn and Sultana, would have been unlikely to vote for same-sex marriage, while on the flip side, one was recently “arguing in favour of … first cousin marriages.” He referred here to Iqbal Mohamed, who argued against outlawing first-cousin marriages in Parliament on the grounds that it would not be “effective or enforceable.” Mohamed suggested instead that alternative policies be implemented to manage the health risks associated with such marriages. Mohamed has since resigned from Your Party. The Independent Alliance MPs have expressed a variety of views on LGBT rights, but have generally been quite vague when discussing the topic.
The view from Labour Students was that the biggest threat from the left would come from the Greens, who will have a “very strong message” ahead of the next election. When pushed on why the Student Left committee opted to support Your Party and not the Greens, Gus pointed to Your Party’s “stronger roots” in the labour movement. He also pointed to the party’s more “explicit anti-capitalism” stance and differing foreign policy positions on issues such as NATO.
Both societies had only good things to say about the Young Greens on campus, highlighting separate cross-party events they would be hosting with them. Labour Students also pointed out events they would be hosting with other societies, including their recent debate night with the Conservative and Liberal Societies. Meanwhile, Gus told us about Student Left’s positive relationship with the Socialist Students, Trade Union society, and Action for Palestine society. He said that besides the new Labour Student society, Student Left has a “pretty decent working relationship with all the left[-wing] groups on campus.”
Relations between the two societies appeared strained. While Labour Student’s Hamza made clear there was “no bad blood” between the societies, each had criticisms of how the others had operated. Likewise, Gus made clear he did not expect anyone in Student Left to be interested in working with Labour Students, describing that it had become a “career factory.”
Adding to tensions, Labour Student’s Ben commented that it was not appreciated that Student Left “unanimously called a vote of no confidence” to remove Hamza from his inactive committee role as Global Majority Officer in Student Left, alleging that Hamza was not consulted beforehand. Hamza had remained as a committee member as he had not resigned from the old iteration of Labour Students following their renaming to Manchester Student Left.
When we followed up with Student Left’s Gus, he clarified that he had indeed messaged Hamza on 10 October asking “if he want[ed] to remain a member of the committee or if he’s stepping down”. After receiving no response for five days, the Student Left committee passed a motion to call for a vote of no confidence, which was due to happen on 28 October. Gus clarified, however, that this vote had not taken place due to “admin” matters and that they had “decided not to follow up at the current moment”, meaning that Hamza remained an inactive member of the Student Left committee. Hamza subsequently resigned from Student Left’s committee. Further, Gus emphasised that the vote of no confidence “isn’t even out of hostility to Hamza”, but to allow other members of the society to get more involved.
Further tensions arose over Labour Student’s Ben’s cross-party clubbing during this year’s Conservative Party Conference. When asked about the night out at the end of the interview, he made clear he was happy to be friends with “one nation Tories, who – surprise – are actually just nice people who believe different things”, using it as an example of their commitment to being a “broad church” political society. Following our interviews, Ben tweeted, “Chair of the Manchester Left at uni tried tipping off the SU newspaper that I went for drinks at CPC as a ‘gotcha’ ???”
National politics will always be divisive, but the divide between the two societies exemplifies the polarisation of the political arena. It also signals growing disillusionment among many young people on the left with the current Labour government. Under Starmer, the party’s ‘hard left‘ has steadily lost influence; the creation of MSL is an extension of this trend.
Delineating the boundaries of a broad church has always been difficult, and those with politics to the left of Labour are now trying to cast a new path. Yet, the Labour Party has a strong presence in Manchester, large parts of which are ‘red-wall’ areas, and political trends popular on campus may struggle to find a place in the city. The two societies left the impression that they are divided not just on how to pursue change, but what to pursue, with Labour Students focused much more on local issues, and Student Left on international affairs. It is unsurprising, then, that the two groups struggle to co-exist within one society or party. However, whether the two can put aside their differences to pursue common goals, such as campaigning against Reform, is yet to be seen.
