What next for Momentum in the post-Corbyn era?

Decisions on how the left-wing group operates and interacts with the new leadership of the Labour Party will be critical for its survival, writes Ashley Cowburn

Organisation might have to focus on influencing policy (Getty)

Over a Zoom conference call this weekend, Momentum’s newly elected group of senior officers are expected to vote on Jon Lansman’s successor as chair of the organisation – set up in 2015 to support Jeremy Corbyn’s radical policy agenda.

Lansman, a veteran left-winger, who will remain on Labour’s governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), declared in an article in May he was stepping back from the position to make way for a new generation to take Momentum into its next era.

But electing his successor will be a relatively easy task. Decisions on how the left-wing group operates, represents its members, and interacts with Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party, will be critical for its survival and relevance in the coming months and years.

It follows the group’s internal elections – held every two years – to elect the members of its National Coordinating Group (NCG). The Forward Momentum slate, which had the backing of former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and aims to rebuild Momentum from the “ground up”, swept to victory in the internal members’ ballot for positions on the body.

After winning all 20 member representative positions and a clear majority on the NCG, Forward Momentum will now have the ability to mould the future direction of the organisation in the post-Corbyn era. During the campaign, they vowed to deliver a “much more member-led and democratic organisation” and promised “no more backroom deals”.

When the results of the ballot were announced on Wednesday morning, Callum Bell, a newly elected member of the NCG, said it was an “emphatic” victory for the Forward Momentum candidates and the “beginning of a new chapter of a new organisation of grassroots campaigners, rooted in their communities”.

“Socialism is the common sense of many Labour members and much of the country. Our immediate ambition is to fight for these ideas within the party, as well as organising to oppose the Conservative government’s catastrophic mishandling of Covid-19,” he added. “The Labour left is looking for leadership, and we intend a reinvigorated Momentum to be the organisation that provides it.”

But a key issue for the newly elected senior officers at Momentum is how the left-wing group will remain relevant under Starmer’s leadership. During the Corbyn era, members of the shadow cabinet would often appear at Momentum events, activists from the group were recruited to work for the party in parliament and the Labour leader himself was indebted to the organisation during the most perilous moments of his leadership.

“They are going to have a lot of challenges and it’s going to be complex,” one source on the Labour left said. “They are dealing with new difficulties: they can’t influence the leadership. They’ve got to campaign and that means making tactical judgements and trying to appeal to the middle ground and not just the supporters.

“It’s a completely different situation so I think the current divisions [on the left] will be eroded over time and new priorities and opinions ... will emerge. That is the reality.”

Pressed on whether Momentum had a long future, they added: “There’s no reason why it shouldn’t have and I’m optimistic – but it’s not certain. The left has a history of bitter battles over small differences. In the long run the left is bad at this, but I think there will be a lot of people even if they have been fighting a bitter battle… a lot of people will recognise these realities and adjust.”

No longer acting as the praetorian guard for the Labour leadership, it is clear Momentum will seek to maintain its influence by advocating for the radical policies it believes the party should be advocating. It will also seek to hold Starmer to account on his promises made during the protracted leadership contest, and commitment to “defend Labour’s radical values”.

Unfortunately for former Labour cabinet minister Alan Johnson, however, the organisation of left-wing activists shows no intention of getting “out of the party” and going “back to student politics” – as he urged moments after the December general election exit poll dropped.

One insider at Momentum cited the Democratic Socialists of America, the largest socialist organisation in the United States, whose members have included New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as a “model” for how the left-wing organisation works in the coming years. It is not a formal political party, but attempts to work with the Democratic Party on major policy issues. “I think people are looking for an organisation like that,” they said.

The insider predicted that Momentum’s link with the Labour Party will “still be very strong” in the post-Corbyn era, adding: “I think there will big focus within Labour on the policies and really active, vibrant campaigning around big policies: the Green New Deal 2030, how Keir approaches Black Lives Matter and movements like that.

“You don’t really have anybody who is proposing big, exciting, bold solutions. I do think it is up to the Labour left, be it like Momentum, with the Socialist Campaign Group, with Labour for a Green New Deal and other organisations to really actively campaign around that and become this propositional force.”

But they also warned the group – boasting tens of thousands of members – could pursue a “really bad strategy, which could be to call out the leadership on absolutely everything – just lose their heads on Twitter all the time, which will just make us look petulant and like we don’t want to win”.

They added: “Whereas actually I think there’s a big section of the left, and I think this is the section of left who won in these NCG elections to be honest, who understand the way you actually effect change is not just by losing your rag on Twitter all the time but actually being propositional and carving out a space for yourself as an organisation and saying what you are for.”

James Schneider, who was a founder of Momentum in 2015 and later went on to be Corbyn’s director of strategic communications, added of the organisation’s future: “We set up Momentum to support Corbyn and his policies, modernise the party and act as a bridge between movements and the party.”

“The socialist cause may be in retreat but the need for socialist solutions to rampant inequality, the climate crisis and the pandemic is only rising. With no party leadership to defend, Momentum can now solely focus on bridging the gap between the movement’s possibility and the movement’s weakness,” he added.

“As the UK’s largest socialist organisation, Momentum has a vital role to play in advocating and organising for a democratic socialist strategy for the party and the country. That would mean campaigning for Labour victories while building up capacities across the movement and coordinating with and between different struggles for justice. Momentum can succeed if it proves its maturity through tolerance for diversity, internal generosity and commitment to the long haul.”