Around 30 people, including a handful following on Zoom, were present on Saturday 7 June 2026 to see Isle of Wight become the first English Your Party (YP) branch to be formally recognised at an event at Quay Arts, Newport.
An impressive 77% of a reported 113 local YP members voted in the branch officer elections which, as already noted by The Left Lane, were held in advance of Saturday’s launch meeting. Organiser Sam Pascoe, secretary Amanda Bucci, treasurer Leon Quigley and workplace liaison Duncan Morrison were all elected unopposed and chair Chris White was voted in ahead of fellow candidate Verity Bird.
The event was presided over by Your Party membership officer Cassi Bellingham, supported by Sean Halsall from Southport, who led the assembly section that took place later in the evening. YP leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke via live link to pass on his support to the meeting and addressed a number of contributions from the floor. Even the bar staff listened keenly as Corbyn gave his endorsement.
Over the weekend there were two other YP branch launches, one in Wales and one in the south of Scotland. The two former leading YP activists in Wales have resigned, as has the entire 12-person Scottish YP executive and its sole rep, Niall Christie, on YP’s central executive committee (CEC). The Left Lane has no information as to what happened at those sessions.
Attendance at Isle of Wight proto-branch meetings had slipped into single figures this year, so it was encouraging to see an uptick in engagement. The first meeting in August 2025 attracted 67 supporters. As for myself, I cancelled my own Your Party subscription in April this year, having previously convened the Isle of Wight YP proto-branch, and before that monthly independent socialist meetings. As an active socialist, the possibility of engaging with a new layer of socialists, as well as catching up with friends, was too good to ignore. (Editor’s note: We understand Darren! … and thanks for this prompt on-the-spot reporting.)
The socialism on offer was “pretty mild”
The Newport meeting split into assembly groups, in which all participants were invited to work on the same two core questions. Assembly time was divided between outlining people’s primary political concerns and advocating for the type of actions that could address those concerns. The summary of contributions was pretty mild in its socialism and the actions proposed were somewhat vague, which was not an entirely unexpected outcome.
Most participants are still new to the cause of independent socialism and it is hoped they will have the opportunity to develop their initial ideas at further meetings. Sean Halsall is a passionate advocate for the assembly model. He believes all members firstly must feel heard and therefore be included in proceedings, as the basis for engaging a mass of people in decisive political action.
Duncan Morrison and I enjoyed a constructive and enlightening discussion with both Sean and Cassi Bellingham in a nearby pub after the event. The isolation I felt from the actions of the CEC was probably the principal factor in my decision to cancel my Your Party subscription. Some of the discord that has riven the party can be mollified by encountering one another as multidimensional people, rather than stereotypes in a drama played out on social media.
Your Party will be constituting many more branches nationwide over the summer. Hopefully this process will provide an opportunity for members to assert some autonomy within this process. It is very encouraging to see comrades like Amanda Bucci and Sam Pascoe already growing into their roles. We want to see them given the tools by YP HQ to develop further. All funds for the event were paid for by the London head office.
Below is a list of scheduled YP branch meetings over the coming months.
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