The Canary has been catching up with some of the Canary Candidates we interviewed during the 2024 general election campaign. There’s a sense that a movement has begun to build, but there’s debate about what that should look like. The desire to break with the two-party system, however, is clear. As is the desire for more meaningful democracy and unity on the left in order to build it.
Jan Cunliffe: “A new generation of politics is needed”
Jan Cunliffe, who was running against Lisa Nandy in Wigan, said she was pleased that hundreds of people trusted her with their votes this election. Nandy received fewer votes than in the 2017 and 2019 elections, but still won pretty comfortably. As Cunliffe told the Canary after the election:
Turnout was less than the last GE & Lisa Nandy was visibly worried about other candidates who were coming from the far right & she touched upon it in her speech.
Personally I think Wigan has been let down badly for a long time, & the count results reflect that, not just by the last Government but by Labour too. Trust & loyalty is at an all time low & it will take a massive amount of work to regain it. I struggle to see how that will ever happen & believe a new generation of politics is needed. This stranglehold of the two main parties has left people desperate with too many not even wanting to vote. It’s time to build a new movement so people do have healthy political choices that reflect their needs.
The results nationwide are actually quite worrying, & we can’t afford to be complacent anymore.
Khalid Sadur: “We shouldn’t accept the two-party duopoly”
Khalid Sadur, who was standing against Kate Osamor in Edmonton and Winchmore Hill in Greater London, got 1,700 votes in the election. Osamor’s number of votes fell significantly in comparison to 2019 and 2017. Sadur shared his results speech online, and in it he said:
We can do things differently in Enfield, and we should do things differently in Enfield. We should be based on the community. Residents should be informing us as to what we should be doing. We shouldn’t accept the two-party duopoly.
Adding that local community independents will stand from now on in both local and general elections, he sent an invitation to constituents:
Please, get involved. Let your voice be heard. Because we are here to stay.
Brian Agar: Reform “have helped Labour win this big majority”
Brian Agar, meanwhile, who stood in Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor (which replaced Tony Blair’s old constituency of Sedgefield in once-Labour-dominated County Durham), had some final comments on the election, specifically regarding the role of Reform in the 2024 election. As he told the Canary:
It looks like Reform got the Tory vote. A lot of Labour gains with Reform in 2nd. If you added the Tory and Reform vote together then the Tories would’ve kept their seat. So, Reform in a way have helped Labour win this big majority.
He also described:
A very unpopular right wing Tory party whose members/supporters wanted them to go full fascist so turned to Farage.
And he insisted:
If we’re not ready and united by the next general election it will go back to the right with Farage uniting with the Tories, who’ll go full right with Fuhrage as leader. We need a famous, charismatic figurehead to bring us and the apathetic voters together, and it needs to be done yesterday. No time to lose. Build now, win next time!
Featured image via the Canary
