As Kerry, Mainstream’s Chair, sets out in her end of year message, Mainstream has made significant strides in just four months of activity. We move into 2026 with a strong infrastructure, which we will continue to develop in partnership with members, an expanding presence across all levels of the Labour Party, and a shared commitment to reconnect Labour with its mainstream.
Here’s a month-by-month recap of Mainstream’s organising efforts since September, made possible by the determination and resolve of Mainstream members and allies.
Mainstream launched on 8th September with the backing of over 50 individuals from across the Labour Party for our founding statement. This represented a historic coming together of the labour movement, with support from across groupings and traditions, and planted a clear pluralist and progressive flag in the sand. Further support followed quickly, including from former Leader of the Labour Party Lord Kinnock.
On 19th September, when Labour’s Conference Arrangements Committee (CAC) moved to block a debate on the two-child benefit limit, Mainstream moved to stop them. We directly supported several CLPs and affiliates in appealing the CAC’s decision, and hundreds of Mainstream members and supporters across the country told the CAC: Labour must choose differently on child poverty. On 22nd September, we won - the CAC reversed its decision. In the November Budget, we saw the fruits of this work, and all the valiant efforts of other campaign groups and civil society, when the Government finally ended the Tories’ cruel two-child benefit limit.
When Mainstream launched, we didn't know that we would land right in the middle of important changes for the Labour Party. We were soon faced with a Deputy Leadership election, after Angela Rayner had to step aside. Determined to model the democratic, members-led culture that is so often lacking within Labour, we balloted our growing membership on whether or not we should endorse a candidate, and if so, whom.
We quickly found ourselves at Labour Party Conference, and invited Mainstream members to join us for an electric rally where we heard rousing speeches from Dawn Butler MP, Alex Sobel MP, Dr Simon Opher MP, Neal Lawson of Mainstream’s Interim Council and Paul Fleming of Equity. Despite not being advertised in the fringe guide, 200 of you joined us to get stuck in with the fundamentals of organising - building relationships and coming together around shared values.
Shortly after Conference, our ballot on the Deputy Leadership closed. 80% of Mainstream members participated, a huge turnout for such a new organisation, recommending we endorse Lucy Powell by 82.2% - and so we did.
After the devastating loss of the Caerphilly by-election, Mainstream received extensive coverage for our call for the Labour Party to undergo a major reset in line with the democratic socialist values and moral purpose our party was founded to champion.
In late October, Mainstream held its first local event, working with local members in Sheffield and one of our parliamentary allies, Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake, to organise From Crisis to Renewal. Over 70 local activists came together to debate and discuss where Labour is at and where we need to go - and resolved to form a Mainstream Local Group to make hope a reality.
Mainstream held its first event for Labour MPs and Peers in November, bringing speakers from Common Wealth, the Progressive Economy Forum and the Centre for Local Economic Strategies into the House of Commons to equip parliamentarians with the information and background to constructively engage with the November Budget.
Recognising the urgent need to champion a popular, practical and principled left politics within the formal structures of the Labour Party, we announced that Mainstream will stand candidates for election to Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) and National Policy Forum (NPF) next year. We invited members to register their interest in being a candidate with Mainstream, and the Interim Council will soon put its recommended candidates back to members for approval by ballot.
In early December, we held the first Mainstream Organising Forum, inviting members to join us to design the grassroots organising structures we need to bring to life a bolder, broader and brighter Labour Party. Hundreds of you participated, sharing your thoughts on the CLP Organisers Network and Local Groups Network proposed by the Interim Council.
Before the Christmas recess, we held the first in a series of policy seminars for MPs and Peers. Markets and Mandates: Where are the Boundaries of Government Intervention in the Economy?, co-chaired by Clive Lewis MP and Barry Gardiner MP, gathered members of the Parliamentary Labour Party with Professor Daniela Gabor to explore the issue of implementing a transformative social democratic agenda in a highly financialised economy. Attendees are now working on plans to take forward some of the insights and shared analyses that came from the session.
After the Organising Forum, we took away your feedback, integrated this into the design of our CLP Organisers Network and Local Groups Network and are now registering members to get involved with each. We’re blown away by the level of energy and enthusiasm members have shown in just a few days, and we’re well on track to have a strong organising presence in every part of the UK.
2026 is going to be a huge year for Mainstream, with big challenges coming down the track for Labour, and countless opportunities for championing the radical realism we know the country needs.
Our core mission, of reconnecting Labour with its mainstream, in order to make big change possible and take on the enormous threat posed by Reform, is no small task. But already, together, we’re building the power, relationships and vision that this historic moment calls for.
Thank you for making these first few months of Mainstream’s activity a success.
Luke Hurst
National Coordinator, Mainstream
