Action for Equality, Democracy and Sustainability
13 September 2025
Join Us at Our Next Coffee With Politics Morning
13 September - 10.00-12.30
Conerstone Community Centre
Booking essential
So, Progressive Politics, What's Next?
Just a year into a Labour government with a landslide majority. So who could imagine that the old progressive certainties of Labour, Greens and Lib Dems — are under strain. Disillusionment with Starmer's leadership grows, while the Corbyn-Sultana alliance surges, boasting 700,000 sign-ups and polling at 50% in favour of a left-Green pact. Zack Polanski's momentum in the Green leadership race adds to the flux, as does the rise of Reform, now threatening the Tory claim to fame as the most successful party in history.
Where does Compass stand in this maelstrom? In May, Compass launched a new campaign with Momentum and Open Labour to build a more confident, organised soft left within Labour. But can this succeed — and is it the right course of action amid such political fragmentation?
To help us navigate this shifting terrain, we welcome Sue Goss, founding Compass member and author of Open Tribe, and Mark Perryman, editor of The Starmer Symptom and cultural commentator. Together, they'll explore whether a progressive 'open tribe' politics is still possible — and what it might look like in today's fractured climate.
Join us for coffee, conversation, and a candid look at the future of the left.
Speaker: Sue Goss, Founding member of Compass, Author of Open Tribe, political scientist and commentator working with local government and public services.
In this session, she'll pose a question to Mark, the audience and herself: Is it still possible to create a progressive 'open tribe' politics amid the turmoil of today's progressive political landscape?
Speaker: Mark Perryman, Author, Editor of The Starmer Symptom and pioneer of a left culture rooted in the convivial and participative rather than command and control.
Previous books include The Corbyn Effect, The Moderniser's Dilemma and The Blair Agenda. Mark mixes politics and culture as the co-founder of the self-styled 'sporting outfitters of intellectual distinction', Philosophy Football.
There will also be an opportunity to buy copies of Sue's and Mark's latest books.
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Click here to see meeting notes from previous Coffee Mornings - including Poverty, Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation, The Economy, The Environment, and more.
Local Government Reorganisation in Progress
Get involved in Sussex Campaigning
A major cause for concern for Sussex Compass is that, although the Supplementary Vote is being reinstated for mayoral elections, this is not due to be introduced until 2027, so the Sussex mayoral elections in May 2026 are still set to take place under First Past the Post. Please look out for our letter-writing campaign aimed at getting this remedied.
Compass groups in Sussex will be organising around the mayoral elections, working to achieve a progressive win and campaigning for a positive programme for this new tier of government. Would you be interested in joining a Sussex-wide group of Compass supporters to work towards a progressive mayoralty? If so, we would love to hear from you - please email brightonhove@compassonline.org.uk and we'll be in touch.
Coming Events - Coffee with Politics Mornings
29 November 2025 The Politics of the Food System - What can we do to make the system work better for us?
The global food and agricultural system is under severe systemic pressure. The arguments about what to do encompass everything from climate change and the encroaching environmental limits, startling new technologies, the political power of the farm and business lobbies, and the various cultural contexts around food including the resistance of consumers to change. One thing for sure, some major changes are surely coming, and fast.
We want to understand these pressures and developments. We want to know what is likely to happen and we want to explore a little of what we as citizens can do about it.
Speaker: Stuart Gillespie is an Honorary Associate at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. He has had a long career fighting to transform our dysfunctional food system and has worked with a range of UN agencies across the world. In the UK he founded several major interventions in public food and nutrition policy. He has numerous publications and his latest book is Food Fight, published by Canongate and described by Henry Dimbleby as articulating “the intricate web of historical economic and political factors that have led us to this point of crisis”. He has many constructive things to say about how we can get out of the crisis.
Second Speaker to be determined.
About Brighton and Hove Compass
Nationally and locally, Compass campaigns for the good society, one that is more equal, democratic, and sustainable. We believe that no single organisation or political party can create the good society. And that the main progressive parties have far more in common than differences. So, we need to develop new and radical collaborations to achieve a good society.
Brighton and Hove is an amazing creative and progressive place with a vibrant artistic, community and voluntary sector. A city with an great track record of campaigning that remains as alive as ever with Pride, Black Lives Matter and others. And we are fortunate to have a council with a progressive majority. But our city is also a place where wealth and extreme poverty, poor housing, low paid and seasonal work, and homelessness sit side by side so, when we re-launched our local Compass group in 2020, our priority was to support Brighton build back better after the pandemic. However, our local collaboration can only achieve so much without changing Britain’s centralised, short term and tribal political system. We believe that there are three key elements getting in the way:
- Our unfair electoral system
- Our tribal politics
- Our over centralised national and local political systems
We are exploring ideas, discussing issues and planning strategies. We do this at our bi-monthly coffee mornings and other events in Brighton and Hove.
B&H Compass needs your input
Over the coming 2-3 years, B&H Compass will be holding campaigning actions and conversations around the broad theme of democracy and power. Watch this space for more, or contact us on brightonhove@compassonline.org.uk if you have ideas or would like to get involved.
Brighton and Hove Compass is coordinated by a volunteer steering group of seven.
Join Compass here https://action.compassonline.org.uk/. And email us locally at brightonhove@compassonline.org.uk
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