Zoe Gardner, Eric Heinze, James Schneider and Zoe Strimpel chaired by Stephen Law

Immigration researcher Zoe Gardner, Momentum founder James Schneider, writer and academic Professor Eric Heinze and journalist and historian Zoe Strimpel discuss the evidence for a significant shift to the left in UK politics and ask how the left could gain power.

Journalist Jon Sopel suggests Zohran Mamdani’s win in the New York City mayoral election is ‘the most significant win for the left in the history of US politics’. In The UK, the Green Party, adopting left policies including a wealth tax and nationalisation of water and other utilities, recently achieved notable success, pulling ahead of the Labour Party and moving into second place behind Reform in the polls. Like Mamdani, the Greens seem to be drawing on significant grassroots support, particularly among the young. Currently, polling of the under 50s puts the Greens ahead of every other UK political party.

Is there evidence of a significant shift to the left taking place in British politics? If so, why is that shift taking place, and is it to be welcomed? If the left is ever to gain significant political power in the UK, how will that be achieved? What should the left’s priorities be, and does it first need to learn lessons from its own past?

Gardner is an independent researcher, campaigner and commentator on immigration and asylum policy. She appears regularly on television, including BBC Newsnight, Channel 4, and Talk TV and writes for newspapers including The Guardian and ByLine Times.

Heinze is the author of Coming Clean: The Rise of The Critical Theory and the Future of The Left. He co-founded and currently directs Queen Mary’s Centre for Law, Democracy, and Society   and has written for The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Independent, Times Higher Education, and Left Foot Forward.

Schneider is a political organiser and writer currently serving as communications director for Progressive International. He co-founded the left-wing grassroots movement Momentum and was director of strategic communications for the then leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn.

Strimpel writes regularly for both The Spectator and The Telegraph. She is an author, historian and journalist who specialises in gender, relationships and sexuality. She is author of Seeking Love in Modern Britain: Gender, Dating and the Rise of ‘the Single’. Her latest book is Good Slut: How Money, Sex and Power Set Women Free.

Discussions are chaired by Dr Stephen Law, philosopher and academic, and author of bestselling introductions to philosophy for adults and children, including The Philosophy Gym. Law is also the editor of the Royal Institute of Philosophy Journal Think, and the festival’s major projects director.