- The UK’s electoral system creates a two-party race between Labour and the Tories, with smaller parties and independent candidates sidelined and largely ignored by the media. openDemocracy is platforming some of these candidates so you can hear what they stand for. Articles published do not necessarily reflect our editorial stance.
If you’d have told me in 1984 – or at any point over the next 40 years – that I’d be running in an election not for the Labour Party but as an independent candidate, I’m not sure I’d have believed you.
Last year I was forced to quit Labour after four decades of membership. It was a painful decision, but I could feel the values I’d signed up for falling away, dissipating, and finally being dumped.
At the time, I was the leader of the Labour opposition group in Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council, so my resignation was newsworthy. I made a video explaining why I was ending my membership and put it on X (formerly Twitter). It garnered more than a million views. Clearly I had hit a nerve.
