It was a big day for the progressive movement on Saturday when 800 stalwarts from across the various traditions gathered on one of the hottest days of the year to meet in a Bethnal Green Community Centre to thrash out the way forward for progressive politics.
Organised by Compass, the soft-left think tank, and the Progressive Economy Forum, the consensus view seemed to be that the UK is approaching a turning point moment – and it may come on June 18, the day of the Makerfield by-election – and participants need to be ready for what is to come.
The underlying analysis was that the UK is facing a crisis of democracy, inequality, and political fragmentation and that the populist right is feeding off that frustration, division and disillusion. Those malign forces need to be urgently challenged.
People came from all over the country and there was a very strong representation from Sussex. I saw over a dozen familiar faces from the Brighton and Hove and Lewes Compass groups as well as numerous local ‘unaffiliated’ individuals.
“No single party can stop Reform on their own”
It was a day of deliberation, vigorous debate and congenial discussion between progressives of all parties and none. It was just what one would hope for at a moment of acute political anxiety, with Nigel Farage no longer shouting from the fringes but from a first-place podium.
The position of Compass, the co-organiser of the event, is that without some change of course, Farage could walk into Downing Street after the next general election and that this would begin an unprecedented erosion of civil liberties and democratic norms, a disaster waiting to happen.
Over 70 speakers – from MPs and party leaders to economists, theorists, and activists – explored how we renew democracy, tackle economic insecurity, and build a progressive majority capable of winning real transformation. 15 organisations were represented, a truly pluralist alliance of trade unions, think-tanks, and campaign groups, including the Progressive Economy Forum, Friends of the Earth, UCL Policy Lab, New Economics Foundation, Make Votes Matter, Unlock Democracy and the Migrant Democracy Project, all committed to Compass’s vision of the Good Society.
Caroline Lucas, former Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, opened the day with a passionate call to arms. She conceded that the concerns of Reform voters are perfectly legitimate when they have had a cost-of-living crisis for 20 years, and when they have had endless promises from governments that simply don’t deliver. But she argued that the local election results, terrible as they were for the Labour Party, show that, taken across the Greens, the Liberal Democrats and Labour, there is a progressive majority in the UK.
Our task, she maintained, was to “… work together. The stakes are incredibly high, and fixing our democracy requires a boldness that we haven’t shown so far… No single party can stop Reform on their own. Tribalism has fractured UK politics… we can’t keep doing politics the same old way.”
There were over 20 different sessions running throughout the day, covering most of the pressing subjects of the moment: climate change, immigration, the care economy, wealth taxes, Europe, the media, public ownership.
If there were any elephants in the room it was how we are going to pay for all this (when AI is constraining young workers from getting into work and the defence budget is demanding drastic attention), but there were several sessions focusing on the structural economic challenges and ‘the limits of fiscal orthodoxy’, including stirring contributions from Gary Stevenson, Kate Pickett, Stewart Lansley and Will Hutton.
All in all it was a real show of strength from Compass whose purpose is to organise, connect and mobilise the progressive majority into a political force capable of winning and governing.
Challenging inequality
Throughout the day, more star speakers came and shone, from right across the liberal left continuum: Clive Lewis, John Denham, Mark Drakeford, Zoe Williams, Clare Short. Probably the unifying theme was the need to fundamentally challenge inequality and the corrosive impact this has across the nation.
Gary Stevenson made the point that the super wealthy (including the tech billionaires), at 1% of the population, now own 24% of national assets. Within another 10 years, he said, they will own it all. He also brought the room up short when he pointed out: “There has been a 20-year decline in living standards for most people in the UK – but not the people in rooms like this.”
The event closed with Compass Director Neal Lawson talking to Green Party leader Zack Polanski. Some participants were disappointed that the advertised appearance of Andy Burnham didn’t materialise, but apparently he has a by-election in two weeks that took precedence. Participants were nonetheless delighted to have such a significant substitute as Polanski who argued that Greens — and by extension all progressives — need to much better understand why people were attracted to Nigel Farage’s party. He drew a sharp distinction between Reform’s leadership and those thinking of voting for it.
For an event that might have once been dominated by Labour heavyweights, the high point appearances of Polanski and Lucas were very significant. There was a feeling that these people were not just talking pluralism but really doing something about it. In this connection, it was encouraging to see Vince Cable there too, from the Liberal Democrat tradition, sharing lessons from his time in government, talking frankly about the economics of social care and the funding choices that are required.
Towards a pluralist progressive strategy
Afterwards, participants retreated to the pub across the road, although not all 800 could squeeze in. The Sussex contingent was unquestionably encouraged and they came home with a renewed spring in their step, even if one or two were impatient for more practical organising. One voice even called for the drafting of some kind of cooperation agreement between the Greens, Lib Dems, Labour and non-aligned. Some kind of pact to go forward together. Wouldn’t that be something?
Still, the day’s overall message was clear: the numbers show that a progressive majority exists in the country and there are definitely ideas and momentum to sustain it. Our challenges are internal as much as external — tribalism, timidity, and Labour activists’ historic tendency to treat potential allies as threats.
With Reform potentially on a path to government, never has there been more urgency for a genuinely pluralist, cross-party progressive strategy.
And the time for it is not just at the next election – it is now.
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