What can the Liberal Democrats learn from Zohran Mamdani’s clean sweep victory of the NYC Mayoral Race?
This week, American Democrat Zohran Mamdani ended a year-long campaign with a decisive victory in the New York mayoral race, winning over 50% of the vote on record turnout. For progressives across the Western world, it was a breath of fresh air: a politics of hope had won. That same evening, at my local party’s AGM, we heard from Martin Tod, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the newly created Hampshire and the Solent Combined Authority. One line from his speech has stayed with me:
Being a Liberal Democrat means always being unhappy with the status quo. That’s hard when you’re the incumbent, but it’s essential.
I have long argued for a politics of hope. That conviction has only strengthened since the election of the 2024 Labour government, when the optimism of “things can only get better” gave way to the weary realisation that “these lot are just the Tories in red ties.” The status quo feels unchanged. Starmer and Reeves promised to repair fourteen years of Conservative austerity, yet little meaningful progress has followed. Disillusioned voters, desperate for something different, are drifting toward Reform UK – a party whose rhetoric increasingly echoes the dark language of Mosley-era politics. Reform demonstrably is not offering hope, but it is offering change.
A politics of hope is exactly the fight Mamdani waged in New York. His campaign insisted that things can and should be better, even under the tightening grip of the Trump regime and relentless media attacks branding him a socialist. Yet, in my view, his platform was not Democratic Socialism – it was a kind of Radical Social Liberalism, the kind of politics the UK desperately needs: energetic, positive, and disciplined on the issues that truly matter to people, however controversial. We need a Liberal Democrats who are unapologetically and loudly Pro-Palestine, Pro-Trans, and Pro-Protest – just as Mamdani was – while maintaining that same message discipline. Throughout his campaign he spoke in Spanish, Arabic, and English, presenting himself as a relatable everyman who could see, and name, the deterioration of the status quo. His message focused on halting and reversing the soaring cost of living in America’s largest metropolis.
The economic and political stagnation of the last 12 months continues to offer a golden opportunity for British progressive politics – and the Liberal Democrats, with their seventy-two seats and extensive control of councils across the UK, remain the most aptly placed Party to seize it. Yet with every passing week in Parliament, we risk letting that chance slip away – and watching as Polanski’s Green Party continues to hoover up the progressive campaigners who once would have been ours.
Mamdani’s victory showed that America’s largest metropolis will respond to a politics of boldness, radicalism, and hope – and that such radicalism can also be credible. Across Europe, D66’s strong showing proved the same: that liberalism grounded in optimism and principle can still win hearts. Campaigning in multiple languages demonstrated his steadfast commitment to inclusion; it wasn’t posturing, it was principle.
When British liberalism has been at its best, it has been the bastion of moral clarity, conscience, and conviction. Yet, for too long we’ve clung to being the ‘sensible moderates’. To reclaim the progressive space we once occupied, we must rediscover that radical hope. Mamdani proved that hope still wins – but the key word is change. That’s what Reform, the Greens, and Mamdani all understand: the status quo cannot hold. People crave change – and that is where hope begins. If the Liberal Democrats can learn that lesson – to be again the party that stands, loudly and proudly, for justice, liberty, and humanity – then perhaps hope can win here too.
* Tara Foster is a LibDem campaigner from Southampton. She sits on the LGBT+ LibDems Executive as an Ordinary Member and is a prominent member of the Radical Association.
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10 Comments
“ relentless media attacks branding him a socialist”
He is literally a member of the Democratic Socialists of America
In a metropolitan city like NY it’s a tad easier with that kind of message.
Step outside into the Rust belt – I’m not sure he’d go down so well.
You can mirror that across many Western industrial areas ….As we see across Labours Red wall & in Eastern Germany for an eg – that message just doesn’t resonate. Looking at the lost deposits at the last GE is a painful reminder.
I agree with you, Tara, and I live in an industrial area, Greg. Sadly the “moderate” centrists are quite numerous in our party… I fear we will not learn the lessons of this till the greens have eclipsed us. I hope I’m wrong.
Zohran Mamdani proudly proclaimed that he was a socialist and he got elected on that basis. I’m not sure why you think members of the Democratic Socialist of American can be described as ‘Radical Social Liberalism’.
Whilst Mamdani may be a “member of the Democratic Socialists of America”, given the current political & social environment in the USA, many of their current political aims look like Liberal Democrat policies – even if their ultimate goals may not be aligned with ours.
I’m inclined to agree with Tara’s opinion – the platform he was elected on would be & should be comfortably familiar to us.
And for those of us lucky enough to remember Charles Kennedy’s speeches, the message and natural delivery should be too.
It’s clear that many, in the UK, do not understand the difference in connotation between the word ‘socialist’ in the USA and UK.. Among most Americans the words ‘Communism and ‘Socialism’ are interchangeable..
Among Trump’s support base anyone not owning a pickup and at least 5 semi-automatics is viewed with suspicion..
@Simon McGrath
I trust that you also believe that Hitler was a Socialist for being a member of the national socialist german workers party?
Bernie’s constant misuse of the term Democratic Socialism has led to the DSA getting support from a load of social democrats/social liberals which is what Mamdani’s policies clearly align with. Given this economic position, so long as he takes the liberal position on cultural issues, civil liberties, localism and political reform then he’s a social liberal.
He’s certainly a lot more liberal than certain folk in this party on trans rights!
Was the NSDAP socialist?
It depends what you mean by the term. It’s quite possible to be socially conservative, be somewhat anti-capitalist, and believe in the power of a strong state to supply essential services such as education and health.
Anyone who does take the trouble to keep in touch with working class opinion will know that this is what is wanted by many. This does explain the schism that has developed with the present day liberal left. Rightly or wrongly, there’s not a lot of support in the former ‘Labour Heartlands’ for trans rights. For example, the concept of chosen pronouns (he, she, him, her etc) leaves many bewildered.
This is not to say that the working class is inherently fascist. It is more that the genuine fascists do know what policies are needed to attract working class support.
It seems odd that so many people want to define Mamdami’s politics themselves rather than let him do so. He is happy to describe himself as a Democratic Socialist , why not listen to what he says.
@ Simon,
I’m happy to listen to what Zohran Mamdani says about being a democratic socialist. I’d also lay claim to the same description and no-one, who knows my politics, has ever disputed that.
I’m not too sure whether to fully accept it from ZM though. I’ve only heard of him relatively recently, so I’m not fully familiar, but from what I’ve read, so far, he does sound to be more of a liberal than a socialist.