Introducing Alex Fox CEC Candidate for West Midlands

ABOUT ALEX: I am a member of the Stop the War Coalition and DemBloc and I am a supporter of Your Party LGBTQIA+. I am formerly a shop steward for the USDAW trade union and was a member of the Liberal Democrats briefly in 2016 following their firm anti-Brexit stance. As a shop steward I was mainly responsible for representing members in grievances or disciplinaries. I discovered that union powers in retail had been repeatedly curtailed which committed my belief in socialism and power to the workers. I am a member of DemBloc – a group that campaigns for a real member-led Your Party and holds frequent meetings to keep people updated on the current events in the party and promotes individual candidates for the CEC. I have attended a national march for Palestine with STWC and will attend as many others as I can until Palestine is free.

ALEX ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS….

YOUR HOPES FOR YOUR PARTY

1. What does Your Party mean to you, what do you want to see Your Party members doing more, and how would you support that work from within the CEC?
2. What processes and safeguards would you want to see implemented to curb factionalism in the party and ensure that members remain sovereign when it comes to important decisions.

1. I believe Your Party is our last chance to see a real socialist programme of government in this country and to really organise at the grassroots level. If we can successfully help branches to form in every constituency and give them the funding and advice they need to reach out to their neighbours, we can make a real change and give people a real voice. If elected to the CEC I would prioritise solutions for members to communicate with each other both nationally and at constituency or regional level..

2. I would campaign against the formation of slates and the use of MPs social platforms/mailing lists to promote specific candidates or messages. There has been a “Jeremy vs Zarah” narrative form around this election which I believe will taint the CEC and risks a massive disengagement in the party from those that identify with one particular MP if their candidates aren’t elected in their specific region. I would fight to ensure that at least a percentage of conference attendees is always decided by sortition to ensure that people that can’t/don’t wish to join branches or other groups have an opportunity to be heard.

LET’S TALK POLICIES

On Disability

1. A disabled person’s care needs don’t end when a parent or carer reaches retirement age but the carer’s allowance does. What do you think the CEC and Your Party could do to address this injustice?
2. Are you committed to the social model of disability?
3. How do we ensure the rights of disabled people are taken seriously?
4. How will you ensure accessibility and inclusivity for disabled people in Your Party?

1. Quite simply we need to make carer’s allowances last as long as that person is a carer. We additionally need to increase it from the paltry £83 a week it currently is and increase the maximum amount that working carers can earn to still be in receipt of the allowance.

2. I’m not sure on the wording of this question! I fully believe that disabilities are exacerbated by societal conditions and that we can do much more to make it easier for disabled people to participate in society in the same way as everyone else. I reject recent legislative changes such as “premium” cars being removed from the Motability scheme when these cars are among the most reliable and comfortable to drive – two very important attributes for disabled individuals.

3. At a party level we ensure our constitution recognises the social model of disability and ensures that access to participation in the party is always considered first and foremost.

4. When hosting in-person events (venue accessibility, nearby accessible and affordable accommodation, organised accessible transport between venue and accommodation) and when hosting online events (ensure quality closed captions and a BSL interpreter).

On Benefits

1. What is your vision for sickness, disability, carer, child and unemployment benefits?
2. Do you support a Universal basic income / Universal basic services?
3. Currently, Amnesty International calls the social security system in the UK ‘Consciously cruel’. What do you think needs to be done to tackle this?

1. Benefits are an extremely divisive subject and are all too often weaponised by the right-wing media. Your Party needs to tackle the bias against benefits. We should ensure that if someone is a full time carer for a sick or disabled individual, then this can be their sole focus without them having to seek employment just to make ends meet. Remove the stigma from being sick or disabled and ensure there are no future caps on child benefit introduced.

2. Yes. This is a core tenet of the socialist society I wish to see.

3. As in Q1, the social care system is used by the right-wing press as an easy way to manipulate its readership into blaming the most vulnerable in society for all its ills. A strong press regulation should exist to prevent this sort of victim blaming.

On Jobs

1. How do we generate more well paid jobs in this country?
2. Do you believe the wealth gap between employers and employees needs to be addressed and, if so, where would you cap it?
3. Do you think the real living wage should continue to be voluntary or obligatory?
4. Do you think we should introduce a ‘back-to-work’ scheme in this country where people are given an annual allowance, instead of fortnightly benefits (for a period of time), so that they can become self-employed instead?
5. Do you think think the Employment Rights Act is adequate and, if not, why not, and how would you want to improve it?

1. We can do this in a number of ways but most important in my view, is the removal of privatisation and private equity from industry. Profit is stolen labour and this must be invested into the workers. Workers truly owning a business and making business decisions to grow a company is entirely realistic and achievable. If the workers choose to elect a managing director from their numbers then they are free to do so, but we should absolute reject the principle of investors that make a single financial contribution to a business and then forever take dividends that should be paid to workers.

2. No business would exist without the workers. We need to acknowledge this first and foremost and while it is true that some businesses are built on the good ideas and experience of one individual, it doesn’t mean that they should earn 1000% more than the people that make their business exist. If we had workers owning the means of production, then there simply wouldn’t be a pay gap, but before we get there, we can cap CEO/MD salaries and we can change the system to prevent them being paid in line with the personal allowance and taking out dividends or director loans etc. to supplement their earnings in a low tax/tax-free way.

3. I commend the small businesses that pay this but it should be obligatory and it should increase each year.

4. I believe we should change our marginal tax system in general so that people who work two jobs (i.e. while trying to build their own business) aren’t punished for their entrepreneurship.

5. I commend the upcoming changes in the ERA to remove the two year waiting period for protection against unfair dismissal but this should be from day one, not 6 months. We should abolish the concept of zero hours/gig workers and ensure they are paid a living wage not linked to how many deliveries they make, but while this system exists it should have the full protections of the ERA.

On Housing

1. How do you think we can improve housing in deprived areas, so as to tackle the urgent issues of rising rents, unaffordable housing, shortage of social housing and, in some areas, Airbnb or developers taking over all free properties that could become homes for people? This issue is badly affecting young people who can’t afford the rent on their low wages and also older people 50+ who also can’t find enough work
2. When we win an election, and if it’s within your remit to do so, what measures would you implement to address the homelessness crisis.

1. Social housing should be the sole remit of local authorities and private landlordism should be abolished. We should immediately commence a national council house building scheme and tax property developers (who have failed in their obligation to provide affordable housing for many years) to achieve this. Airbnb would not be abolished in this country, but it would be confined to only providing holiday homes that aren’t suitable for day-to-day domestic use (such as for camping/glamping etc.). We should introduce total bans on second homes in areas where there are waiting lists for accommodation such as Cornwall, Devon & Wales and these could be bought back by the Local Authority under a compulsory purchase scheme such as in the Housing Act 1985 (Part 2).

2. Any vacant properties would be used for housing the homeless immediately, regardless of any legal challenges that might arise. Where the property is deemed to be a second home, acquired only for tax purposes or other unsuitable reason, it would revert to the local authority and be repurposed as affordable housing.

On Inequality

1. Where do you stand on Trans rights and do you believe a woman’s place on the CEC should also be open to Trans women?
2. What is your stance on a youth/student wing, Disabilities group, BAME group, Women’s group or a LGBTQIA+ group within the party?
3. If it were within your remit, what measures would you want to see put in place to combat Transphobia, gender stereotypes, racism, religious intolerance and the general ‘fear of the other’ within our communities, for example in education, in health, in the work place and in negative media portrayals.
4. How do you think we can tackle the centuries-old culture of blaming poor people, and address the real causes of poverty?

1. I am a committed LGBTQIA+ ally and was extremely disappointed to see the gendered language used around CEC “gender balance” that excluded nonbinary comrades. I believe CEC regional seats should have been comprised of either 1 Man and 1 Woman or Trans woman or 2 Women/Transwomen.

2. They are important, but care must be taken to ensure they are not sidelined but are always kept at the forefront of how the party runs.

3. Transphobia (and other fear of the other statements) would be classified as hate speech and social platforms would be heavily fined for each instance of it they allow to stand. I believe this would trickle down into society and form a healthier general discourse.

4. We need a political party that isn’t owned by big business and private lobbyists. By ensuring that no Your Party MPs accept gifts or donations above £250 as in our constitution, we could then have a political party that speaks to the real causes of inequality – billionaires that don’t pay their way.

The Environment + Green & Renewable Energy

1. Consider the challenges of building renewable energy. What is your view on how we should handle the trade‑offs between industrial growth, renewable construction, environmental impact, and the concerns of local people, for example, in the proposed Morgan & Morecambe Wind Farm?
2. What do you think should be done to tackle global warming and environmental degradation?
3. How do we achieve a just transition from the fossil fuel extraction industry to carbon neutral occupations?
4. How do you think we can tackle the lobbying power of the fossil fuel and animal agriculture industries?

1. We are facing a climate catastrophe and we must accelerate our adoption of green energy. While in some instances this might upset locals I personally don’t believe offshore wind is a reasonable thing to protest about given its benefits. Wind, Solar and Hydro should be the focus of a 10-year green energy push which can be funded by levies on big energy companies.

2. We are currently on track to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030 – this is one way in which the government is tone deaf to the needs of real people as the national infrastructure simply does not exist for many people to charge EVs and isn’t likely to exist in a mere 4 years time. We need initiatives like this backed up with real affordable EV options for all and cheap and plentiful EV charging. An EV scheme to get people into an EV car subsidised by the government would be essential and could create many thousands of jobs.

3. The costs of transition should fall on fossil fuel corporations and accumulated wealth, not on workers or energy users. This means windfall taxes, ending subsidies for fossil fuels, and redirecting that money into public green investment. We need to nationalise our energy industries to democratically plan and execute the transition.

4. Take money out of politics. By adhering to our constitution we can prevent Your Party MPs from taking gifts or donations and therefore ensure they don’t have interests outside of serving the public.

The Economy

1. Imagine Your Party has just won the General Election. How do you think Your Party could best manage the hostile economic reaction of the capitalist markets and hostile hyper capitalist countries?
2. What is your view of economic growth versus de-growth, and what do you think the key economic policies of Your Party should be?
3. Do you support the Wealth Tax?

1. Short term we should expect hostility from capital and plan for it in advance. Mitigate this by being decisive and enacting our core policies as hesitation causes market turmoil. Longer term, we should ensure that we nationalise key industries quickly and that this translates to a lower cost of living quickly to ensure we are a popular movement. We should implement tight controls on finance to avoid other events like the 2008 global crash that people are still feeling today.

2. GDP is a terrible measure. It is anti-human and I have never personally been better off just because GDP increased by half a percent. Your Party should aim to preside over the growth of good sectors – renewable energy, public transport, socialised housing and healthcare while aiming to shrink bad sectors such as private rent, fossil fuel extraction and anything involving destruction of the environment.

3. Yes!

Foreign and Defence policy

1. Do you commit to a complete arms embargo on Israel and ending all military cooperation, and what do you think about the global militarisation of foreign policy generally, including the planned defence of Ukraine.
2. Do you believe the UK government is complicit in the Palestinian Genocide (named as such by the UN 9/25).
3. If it were in your remit, would you reverse the proscription of Palestine Action?
4. What are your thoughts on defence expenditure in general, but also in light of the fact that we’re going through a cost of living crisis in this country and our taxes could instead be used to ease the financial burden on households and support our public services?
5. What does a ‘free Palestine’ look like to you?

1. I would go further and end any diplomatic relationship with Israel. I would also put troops into Gaza and the West Bank in a peacekeeping capacity to protect Palestinians from Israeli aggression in a state that we now formally recognise.

2. Yes!

3. Yes!

4. I long for a world where we no longer manufacture weapons. Any government should aim to leave the country and the world in a better more peaceful condition than they found it. I believe in nuclear disarmament and the redistribution of those funds into public services.

5. The arrest, trial and conviction of Israeli government ministers, the Likud party and all members of the IDF that have committed war crimes. The dissolution of the IDF and Israeli security guaranteed by a coalition. The return to the 1967 borders and the removal of all apartheid infrastructure across the West Bank.

General Questions on policy

1. What are the key policies that you would like to see in the Your Party manifesto for the next general election?
2. Imagine Your Party has just won a general election, what’s the first action or policy you would work to implement?
3. What do you think our taxes should be spent on?
4. What should, or should not, pension funds be invested in?
5. What are your thoughts on mass surveillance? Mandatory ID might be on ice but what about future attempts to reintroduce it, and what do you think about live facial recognition?
6. What are your thoughts on full public ownership of vital public services?

1. Nationalisation of key public infrastructure. An immediate campaign of social housing renewable energy construction accompanied by an energy price cap freeze. A wealth tax on billionaires.

2. Nationalisation

3. Public infrastructure and social care.

4. We should invest pension funds in ethical sectors such as public transport and renewable energies.

5. I reject the principles of mass surveillance and mandatory ID especially around voting. It is exclusionary and undemocratic.

6. It is essential.

YOUR PARTY RULES & MANAGEMENT

1. In your opinion, what would be the most effective and fair way for Your Party to decide on and write policy (i.e. proposed and written the by CEC, by branches, by individual members, or by Sortition Assembly, for example)?
2. What are your thoughts on how the CEC, and other Your Party structures, could be made to function more effectively and in the interests of its members?
3. Do you support dual membership and, if so, which other parties would you approve?
4. ⁠Will you ensure that ‘one member, one vote’ is enshrined into the party’s constitution?
5. Voters do not want to see discord in Your Party.  What processes would you want to see put in place to allow members to raise grievances, have them addressed fairly and expediently, and for lessons to be learnt?
6. Would you ensure the CEC provides members with a contact number and email so that members can contact you with suggestions and questions?
7. Taking cybersecurity concerns and obligations into consideration, at a time when there is serious concern  that member’s data could be hacked, leaving members exposed to harassment and other risks, what protections, other than those provided by cybersecurity tools, would you want to see put in place when sharing membership information with local branch executives?
8. How do you see Your Party operating in areas where people are fundamentally right wing and any kind of public street stalls can be very dangerous for those involved, and how should Your Party CEC and the party centrally support comrades in those areas?
9. Do you support the party investing, on a targeted and financially sustainable basis, in permanent and visible local spaces to enable branches to hold meetings, run public-facing events, and engage with citizens outside of election cycles? Please also explain why you support, or don’t support, this initiative.
10. Given the fact that politics is rife with self-serving careerists who priorities their own interests and the interests of their donors, over the interests of party members, and British voters, to the extent that they are prepared to lie their way into office and then break every promise they ever made, would you support a simple mechanism that allows party members to call an immediate vote of confidence in any Your Party elected official, including MPs, councillors and staff on the CEC (or other party structures)? Also, in the event that they lose that vote of confidence, that they are immediately removed from that office (ideally triggering a by-election in the case of MPs and Cllrs)

1. Branch delegates and a percentage of sortitioned members should be able to raise and discuss motions with ample time before the next national conference to be voted on the conference floor. The vote should be open to all members with OMOV.

2. Simply with more transparency about who does what (including ALL volunteers) and their salaries.

3. In principle the Greens and any socialist-aligned party.

4. Yes!

5. Accessible, open communication for all members and total transparency around internal processes.

6. Yes!

7. Members would have to explicitly opt-in to having their details shared with local branch organisers, who would have to be identified to the party and sign a data protection agreement. They would only receive the details the member agreed to such as a phone number or email.

8. If campaigning in these sorts of areas then I would ensure the utilisation of private security if necessary and engage with local police for support. These sorts of campaigns are important and leafleting in these areas to point out the policies of Your Party that would lower the cost of living and improve the quality of life for people is essential.

9. In principle yes, but I would prefer to use existing spaces such as small businesses that might have conference space to support them financially and drive footfall to them, so long as political activity is something they are comfortable hosting.

10. In principle yes but it should be noted that a by-election is not triggered in circumstances such as an MP losing a party whip. There are very narrow circumstances for them so this might require some extra thought, but I absolutely support the right of recall.

GENERAL QUESTIONS

1. How would you distinguish democratic socialism from social democracy, do you identify with either, and, if so, why?
2. Should there be an electoral alliance with the Green Party?
3. Please sketch how you would fight an election campaign paying particular attention to the voting base you would attempt to mobilise, the messages you would try to get across, and the means you would employ to promote such messages.
4. Do you think we should keep the Monarchy?
5. Do you think it’s important for Your Party to have strong animal rights policies? If so, can you provide examples?

1. I am a Democratic Socialist because I believe capitalism is a blight. I want social ownership of our key industries and strong workers’ rights. Social Democrats wish to reform capitalism and I don’t support this approach as I believe capitalism cannot be reformed.

2. In principle yes so long as the Greens stand down in areas Your Party can win if Your Party reciprocates in kind.

3. The right wing have strong working class backing because our press system easily manipulates people and weaponises them against minorities. Appealing to these voters on common ground issues such as the cost of living is key to any election battle. Once there is a message that works to break down these initial walls, it might be possible to open up discussions around immigration and trans rights, but this is not guaranteed. We should be honest about the state of UK politics and be ready for a very long fight to gain seats in parliament.

4. No!

5. Yes. We should ban all blood sports such as “trail hunting” which is a weak mask for actual fox hunting. Additionally we should ban greyhound and horse racing as these are barbaric sports. The key is to ensure they aren’t forced underground. Giving more powers and funding to bodies such as the RSPCA would be key to making this happen.

YOUR PARTY WEST MIDLANDS HUSTINGS (7th February 2026)….

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