Has Fascism Won? Connolly, Polanski and Labour Dissidents Tell Us No.
Leading Off: A landslide victory for Ireland’s leftist presidential candidate, the Greens’ dramatic gains in the U.K., and pushback to Starmer’s repressive policies put the lie to big media myths that human rights are a lost cause.
by Valorie Van-Dieman
Big media in the U.K. and the U.S have worked hard not only to back fascism and the oppression of queer people and other minority groups, but to paint the rise of right-wing radicalism as inevitable.
But is that true? New developments in Europe and the U.K. say quite strongly that it is not.
Left-wing candidate Catherine Connolly won the presidency in Ireland in a landslide this weekend, dominating the polls with 63 percent of the vote, the highest proportion in Ireland’s electoral history. Connolly ran on a platform of progressive politics, focusing on social justice and bodily autonomy.
The queer-focused news website GCN called her LGBTQ+ credentials strong. “Connolly supported Marriage Equality and Repeal, and she consistently frames her politics around dignity, autonomy, and care.” Her strong convictions in favor of bodily autonomy suggest that she will be an ally in office, a welcome sight as corporate media and self-interested politicians tack ever rightward.
The president of Ireland is a largely ceremonial position on paper, without executive power, but for decades it has been highly influential nonetheless, and the election stands as a bellwether of public opinion in Ireland.
“I believe the president should be a unifying presence—a steady hand, yes, but also a spark,” Connolly said earlier this fall. “A reminder of what is possible. A moral compass in a world increasingly driven by profit and spectacle.”
In the U.K., Zack Polanski continues to make waves as the new leader of the Green Party. Since he took the party’s reins in September, the Greens have seen a dramatic increase in popularity, thanks to unabashedly left-wing positions and social media savvy that have drawn comparisons to New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
Polanski, like Mamdani, has been outspoken in support of transgender people. After the U.K. Supreme Court ruling strictly defining gender as sex assigned at birth, he said, “We must stand resolute, determined in this moment and support our trans siblings unconditionally.” He has also been a harsh critic of rising fascism, especially the hate-inspired positions promoted by the right-winger Nigel Farage and his Reform Party.
The Greens’ membership has more than doubled in recent months and one poll put their popularity at nearly the same level as the governing Labour Party. “To call that a political phenomenon is not hyperbole,” Guardian columnist Owen Jones wrote.
Unease and dissent have grown within the Labour Party over the government’s efforts to codify vast anti-trans discrimination. Nearly 50 rank-and-file Labour MPs wrote a letter late last week in opposition to coming regulations that are expected to try to further entrench government bigotry. The MPs denounced the discriminatory rules as a nightmarish maze of governmental oppression that would push trans people out of public life and dump the burden of enforcing discrimination on businesses and everyday members of the public.
The MPs noted the undue discomfort that business employees would have in being the ones responsible for policing gender, as well as the inherent impossibilities in reliably applying government bias based on a person’s appearance.
Labour’s obsessive pursuit of bigotry under its leader Keir Starmer is costing it dearly in public opinion. A recent YouGov poll showed a dramatic increase in distrust of the party, with 62 percent of U.K. respondents saying they do not trust Labour at all. Just 15 percent said they found Starmer’s party “trustworthy.” Distrust of Labour is close to hitting bottom among the trans community, the GoodLaw Project reported, hitting 91 percent among trans respondents.
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