by Cat Smith
The dust has settled after a decisive result at Labour Youth Day in April. After years of campaigning for democracy in Young Labour we saw our first elections to the Young Labour National Committee, with the left making unprecedented gains.
The biggest victory of the day was the election of Sam Tarry as Young Labour Chair. Sam grasped the imagination and awoke the enthusiasm of a young left which organised effectively behind his campaign.

Sam Tarry for Young Labour Chair

Cat Smith & Tulip Siddiq as Equalities Officers for Young Labour

There are several opportunities to score victories on the left at this Saturday’s Labour Youth Day in Gillingham. For many years the Labour Party’s young members have been denied the basic democratic principle of being able to elect their representatives, with favoured careerists instead being anointed by higher authorities. This year, however, is the first for a long time in which elections will be held, and it has been refreshing to see a vibrant young left get their act together and campaign for change. This Saturday comes on the back of left wins in many of the regional positions today; in London (Tom Copley), the South East (Tom Miller), North West (Kate Fry) and Yorkshire and the Humber (Joe Riches).

Sam Tarry’s candidature for Chair has seized the imagination of scores of young Party members. His sound leftwing principles, experience fighting the BNP in East London and involvement with a number of Labour-supporting organisations have helped him pull together a grassroots movement within Young Labour, which is determined to open up the organisation to ordinary young people and provide them with the tools to set up and run campaigns on issues close to their hearts such as the Living Wage, student debt and the climate crisis. Other leftwing candidates in the election are Cat Smith, standing for Women’s Officer, and Tulip Siddiq, standing for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Officer.

Young Labour Conference 2009

Why I’m Backing Sam Tarry
By Luke Pearce – Battersea CLP Youth & Student Officer, London Young Labour Executive

The choice won’t be a difficult one when it comes to electing the National Chair of Young Labour at the conference on 18 April. Sam Tarry has captured the enthusiasm of a broad swathe of young people in the Labour Party clamouring for change. It is this ability to build a popular coalition of supporters which is the surest proof of his suitability to lead our movement: Sam ‘gets it’ when it comes to youth politics and we should have every faith in him as a leader.
 
The reasons for Sam’s success to date are not just his policies, but his character. Sam understands the frustrations felt by many young people within and outside the Labour Party: that they don’t seem to have an organisation that will mobilise them for more than door-knocking and use its influence to campaign for real social change, whether on student debt, the climate crisis or fair wages for young workers.