By Julia Penhaligon
The first step towards a Cornwall branch of Jeremy Corbyn’s new political party is due to take place this week, joining dozens of other groups around the country which have already held local meetings – even though they do not know their memberships, policies or what kind of structure they should embrace.
The new party does not even have a name. Mr Corbyn has suggested a national conference might be held in November.
Inevitably, many former Labour Party activists from 2015-19, including former Parliamentary candidates, look set to be prominent figures in Cornwall.
At the moment, various factions which a decade ago were hostile to each other are united by their Opposition to Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party. As of this morning (Wednesday) a Facebook group set up for “Your Party” supporters in Cornwall has 169 members.
But assuming a relatively uniform distribution of national “sign-ups” the new party in Cornwall can expect several thousand members by the end of the year.
That is when all-important membership data will either be held locally or centrally – and the true nature of the new party will start to become clear.
An important clue as to the likely structure of the new party might be found in the 2018 “Democracy Review” championed by Mr Corbyn when he was Labour leader but which was
