“SOCIALISM doesn’t go away, does it?” A simple question posed by a candidate just two weeks out from a number of important elections being held across Britain. But instead of running under the red banner of Labour, former MP Thelma Walker has added a splash of yellow to her rosette as the most high-profile voice of a new movement.

Self-identifying as democratic socialists, the Northern Independence Party (NIP) was founded just last year. Initially a rag-tag group of socialists, former Labour activists and those still finding their political feet, NIP have developed into something of a new hope among lefties, coupling their calls for an independent state of Northumbria with redistribution of wealth and a mass of entertaining social media content that will have you spitting out your Yorkshire Tea.

“There’s a kind of youthful drive with this party that is about the future, it’s about a vision and about collectively coming together for everyone’s wellbeing,” Walker says. “I believe we had that under Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and the rest of that group, with that manifesto in 2017.