Politics for the people, by the people, urges Dudley Councillor

Ahead of the Your Party conference (29-30 November), we spoke to a few supportive local groups about how things have been going and their hopes for conference and beyond. Watch this space for more #YourPartyLocal articles in the coming days.

Councillor Pete Lowe, was leader of the Labour group on Dudley Council until he left the party in March 2025. He went on to form the Black Country Party, which hopes Your Party:

will work with and alongside established local groups to offer a clear alternative and antidote to the current political conversation.

Speaking about the upcoming Your Party conference, Lowe told the Canary:

We are under no illusions of the task in front of us. People are desperate for a radical, socialist party that can be a national voice to the challenges before us. It needs to be proudly established on principle over personality. This is our generation’s best chance of building something truly exciting.

He added that:

It needs to establish clear democratic and inclusive principles and be a clear internationalist and socialist party.

“People before party” in Dudley and beyond

Having been a Labour member for 41 years, Lowe, as he described, never imagined that he:

would help form a local community political party called the Black Country Party, recruit 6 councillors, almost a 100 fully paid-up activists, and be the largest-followed political party on Facebook in Dudley.

But this became a reality since Keir Starmer is shifting Labour firmly to the right.

Now, Lowe said:

Our local executive meetings are vibrant and active and better attended than any Labour Party meeting since the days of Corbyn. We have established our elected group of councillors but, more importantly, an executive committee, democratically elected by members who set our strategy, get involved in community activity and bring the party alive. We are deeply rooted in the communities we serve and our message is simple but strong: people before party, principles before power. We aim to be the voice of our working-class communities, be a focal point for trade unions to have their voice, and be unapologetically anti-austerity, community-led and a party that promotes unity over division.

He explained that council votes next year meant waiting around wasn’t an option:

We have local elections in 2026 in 24 wards, including 3 wards where BCP councillors are defending our seats. In addition, we have identified a number of seats where we intend to target and we are already active in these communities. We have met with representatives from other political parties in the hope of agreeing a political pact of only one progressive candidate in each seat and an endorsement from all parties to that candidate. Our initial meeting was very positive. We would hope that all Your Party members will join us in getting active. The big concern here in Dudley is the rise of Reform. It is no exaggeration that next year they could win every seat. It is also no exaggeration to say, in many seats, it is the Labour Party who are so disliked – that could assist in a Reform election victory by splitting the left vote.

Regarding the Green Party in particular, he noted:

We personally are working closely with them. At present they are a party with undoubtedly good people, including socialists, within it.

However, he said the focus of his party’s energy right now is to ensure the establishment of an explicitly socialist party on a national scale. “Now that,” he stressed, “would be a legacy to be proud of!”

Featured image via the Canary