Leadership comes from below: that’s what most successful progressive parties have in common. Leftwing parties have triumphed where politics has been reshaped by powerful social movements, and failed where they rely on passive support. The late 20th-century model – of speeches, spin and central diktats – is a dud.
No progressive party can survive the corporate press, corrupt party funding systems and conservative fear machines by fighting these forces on their own terms. The left can build only from the ground up, reshaping itself through the revitalisation of communities, working with local people to help fill the gaps in social provision left by an uncaring elite.
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