Michael Chessum - openDemocracy

Reform knows exactly what it’s doing in local government. What about the left?

Left-wing councils were waiting for a Labour government to turn the money back on, but help isn’t coming. So what now?

/ 9 May 2025

Reform knows exactly what it’s doing in local government. What about the left?

Forget Corbynism 2.0. Something bigger is happening on the British left

A new generation across the UK is demanding political representation. But this unstoppable force is meeting an immovable object, the Labour Party

By Michael Chessum

/ 11 Oct 2024

Forget Corbynism 2.0. Something bigger is happening on the British left

Farage, Le Pen, Meloni: Europe’s establishment is ushering in the far right

D-Day marked 80th anniversary of end of fascism in Europe. Yet the heirs of Mussolini and Pétin are gaining power

By Michael Chessum

/ 26 Jun 2024

Farage, Le Pen, Meloni: Europe’s establishment is ushering in the far right

What next for the weakened British left?

After a year of strikes and unrest, we are at a crossroads: society is shifting leftwards, but the left is in disarray

By Michael Chessum

/ 11 Aug 2023

What next for the weakened British left?

France’s election result should serve as a wake-up call for Keir Starmer

The Labour leader and Emmanuel Macron both fail to grasp that aping the far Right won’t lead to its demise

By Michael Chessum

/ 26 Apr 2022

France’s election result should serve as a wake-up call for Keir Starmer

English people must fight for Scotland’s democratic rights – or sacrifice their own

If we let Boris Johnson ignore the mandate for a second referendum, he’ll come for our civil liberties next

By Michael Chessum

/ 12 May 2021

English people must fight for Scotland’s democratic rights – or sacrifice their own

In the UK, a long, hot summer of post-lockdown protests has begun

If laws banning protest are passed by parliament, NGOs and trade unions must follow grassroots activists in breaking them

By Michael Chessum

/ 22 Mar 2021

In the UK, a long, hot summer of post-lockdown protests has begun

It's time we realised social movements are more than just a warm-up act

Ten years on from the UK's vast student protests, it's time to realise how important they were.

By Michael Chessum

/ 10 Nov 2020

It's time we realised social movements are more than just a warm-up act

Labour lost because of a fudge in which we all participated

Two years on from the crucial moment for Labour’s Brexit policy - here’s what we got wrong

By Michael Chessum

/ 24 Sep 2020

Labour lost because of a fudge in which we all participated

Fighting in the left corner

“We are an organization with one staff member, and a limited amount of energy because nobody in the political and activist left wants to talk about Brexit! “

By Michael Chessum

/ 16 Jan 2018

Yellow group: results of first iteration Depending on which meaning of revolution you’re using, different activities can be classed as revolutionary. Yellow group: results of second iteration We disagreed:

By Armine Ishkanian, Michael Chessum, David Stefanoski, Pavlos Georgiadis and Agnieszka Wiśniewska

/ 17 Jul 2017

Reinventing politics

Black group: results of the first iteration We want a kind of participatory, decentralising and inclusive politics that engages people, bridges differences, and solves problems together. Rapid changes render our

By Michael Chessum, Andreas Karitzis and Birgitta Jónsdóttir

/ 17 Jul 2017