‘It’s time to turn anger into action’: socialist candidate Jane Hindle

Jane Hindle, independent socialist candidate for Brampton East & Boythorpe (Photo: Facebook/ Jane Hindle)

“People are so angry at Labour—it’s time to turn their anger into action.” That’s the message from Jane Hindle, who is standing as an independent socialist candidate for Chesterfield council in Derbyshire.

Jane, a member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), is running in the Brampton East and Boythorpe by-election. It takes place on 1 May, the same day that hundreds of council seats are up for election in England.   

Chesterfield was a Labour stronghold and was once represented by the left wing Labour MP Tony Benn. But, thanks to Keir Starmer’s betrayals, people are breaking with the party.  

Jane told Socialist Worker, “I live in the ward and I see how much ordinary people in my area are struggling. Many hoped that Labour would bring real change but they now know that Labour is just more of the same.

“People are angry with Labour over the two-child benefit cap and the scrapping of the winter fuel allowance.

Jane visited two local primary schools before Easter break to talk to parents, and says “there’s absolute rage at it all”. “None of the other candidates standing are saying, ‘Money for welfare not for war,’” she added.

“People don’t want increased military spending on weapons. They want to be able to pay their bills.”

She added, “This doesn’t feel like a local election, it’s like people want a rerun of the general election. They don’t want to just talk about local issues, they want to talk about bigger picture stuff too.”

Nigel Farage’s far right party Reform UK has been canvassing in Brampton East and Boythorpe. It is hoping to capitalise on people’s outrage at Labour’s failings and wants to channel this anger and frustration against migrants and refugees.   

Jane said, “I chose to stand in the election because there was absolutely nothing to challenge Farage and his racism.”

The response from people has been mostly positive, but there are a portion of people who raise immigration.

Jane says she puts a class argument that says, “Blame bosses, not migrants.” She explains, “When speaking to voters, you do have to challenge some of the soft racism around immigration.

“I ask them, ‘Why is it that politicians want us punching down? If it isn’t refugees to blame, then it’s pensioners. If it isn’t pensioners, it’s people on benefits. You can win people around with this sort of argument”.

Jane is a long-standing anti-racist—and has proudly campaigned against all forms of bigotry and oppression

No sooner had the Supreme Court released its transphobic ruling on Wednesday, Jane urged people to “stand with our trans siblings”. She slammed it as a “disgraceful attack on trans women” that will boost those who “peddle the falsehood that women are at risk from trans women”.

Elections are an opportunity to raise socialist arguments to large numbers of people—and champion the fightbacks that are key to winning change.

Jane says she’s standing in the election to build working class struggles, movements and campaigns in the streets and workplaces.

She argued that “elections are important” because the left can “galvanise people’s anger into something collective” and “turn it into action”.

We need more socialist challenges to Labour—and different forces to offer a left challenge at the ballot boxes. The need for an alternative to Starmer and neoliberalism and Farage and the far right is urgent.