Beyond the Wall: Reclaiming politics through community

Beth Winter – Former Member of Parliament for Cynon Valley
Put on the Wall.
Shortly after being elected as the Member of Parliament for Cynon Valley, I was told that a senior person within Welsh Labour had said their mission for the Parliamentary term was “to put Beth Winter on The Wall.”
In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the Wall is a place of terror, symbolizing oppression, power and control in a society that has descended into authoritarianism.
At first, I brushed it off. But in time, I came to see the harsh reality behind the comment. The political establishment including, to my deep sadness, the Labour Party did not want people like me.
I have often spoken about the political establishment’s detachment from the majority of people – its arcane systems, intimidatory surroundings, politicians’ sense of entitlement sitting comfortably in their ivory towers.
But beneath that surface lies something far more sinister and toxic: a political establishment determined to retain the status quo at all costs.
Toxic culture
There was an initial welcoming period. My priority was to fulfil the privilege of representing the people of Cynon Valley. I worked collaboratively and sought to build alliances. I participated in Labour Party meetings and events. I accepted a role as PPS to Rachel Reeves MP.
But I wouldn’t compromise my principles and values and did not allow myself to get sucked into the establishment. And so, slowly, the tide turned.
The truth emerged: a toxic culture of bullying, gaslighting, and exclusion targeting those who didn’t conform. I witnessed and experienced this within the Labour Party—at a UK, Wales and local level.
I witnessed shocking behaviour by MPs in Parliamentary Labour Party meetings: banging tables, shouting, mocking, jeering, bullying behaviour.
The tone could be similar on online WhatsApp groups. Swearing. Sneering. Derogatory comments about colleagues. Calls for purges: ‘We must stick together. [MP name] must go. As do their team and supporters’
On a personal level I was bullied. Gaslighted. Shunned. Ignored. Humiliated in my own community. Shouted at in public. Cut out of photographs. Excluded from constituency visits by my own party. Left out of social gatherings. And the name calling, lies and spin persist.
I sought help and pursued Labour Party and Parliamentary processes available to raise my concerns. But it became clear that these internal processes were there to serve the interests of the establishment.
Serious issues I raised were met with delay, dismissal, inaction and even a failure to inform me about all processes available to me.
It all took a profound toll on my mental health. I suffered with severe anxiety, loss of confidence, depression and an overwhelming feeling of isolation. Counselling and medication have helped but couldn’t address the root cause of the problem.
It is only since stepping away that the fog has begun to lift.
The power of community
So why am I speaking out now? Because I finally have the strength to do so. It is the right thing to do – speaking truth to power.
It’s also about thanking those who’ve helped and supported me, giving me the strength to carry on.
And that is my family, friends, colleagues. The wonderful people throughout Cynon Valley who are filled with love, kindness, compassion and do extraordinary, inspirational work for the benefit of all who live in our communities.
It is all down to community, the theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness week. My strength comes not from the political establishment, but from the community that lifted me when politics tried to grind me down, the community that held me, helped me to heal and continues to give me hope.
A new kind of politics rooted in community
Across the South Wales Valleys and beyond people are struggling with increasing inequality, economic injustice, democratic decay and climate collapse. People feel disconnected and are searching for something new, for a sense of belonging and purpose that will improve their lives.
This vacuum is being exploited by the far right under the guise of Reform – a party entrenched in the political establishment – which is promoting a divisive and hateful agenda scapegoating migrants and social security claimants.
This cannot be allowed to happen. The change must begin with us.
And it is community that will be at the forefront of the change needed. Because community is the heart of politics. Where social power – real power – lies.
This is where hope resides. And where transformation begins.
And the seeds are all around us: here in Cynon Valley in community projects like Lee Gardens Pool, Age Connects Morgannwg, Hirwaun YMCA and many more.
In local campaigns – to save Rhigos primary school, stop care home closures in Rhondda, to preserve home to school transport and other public services. And through the cymunedoli work that I have the pleasure of doing alongside Leanne Wood across our Valleys.
These are not footnotes to the political story. They are the story. They are the spark and the glue that bind us together. We need to turn those sparks into electricity and spread that glue throughout our communities.
To build a movement from the ground up. To create a new kind of politics.
A politics that draws strength from our shared histories but which also resonates with the world of today and offers hope for the future. A politics of belonging, that honours the richness of our many cultures and the dignity of our shared humanity.
One that is rooted in care, freedom, tolerance, love and justice. That puts people, planet and peace before profit or political positioning.
Yes, I was “put on the Wall.” But I will not hang in silence. Community will never be silenced.
So let us rise, not with bitterness, but with bravery. Organise, not in isolation, but together.
Let us turn the disillusionment into positive action, this moment into a movement.
A community movement that will tear down the Wall and transform society for the benefit of all.
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Goox luck to you Beth, what happened to you was unacceptable in any society. This is not the time and place for me to condemn the Labour party. As you are morethan aware , there is a home for you in Plaid Cymru. Most of us share your desires for fair play and justice and the importance of communities. I might be wrong, but didn’t you speak in the Barry rally?, so its possible you believe in independence?
Welcome to Plaid Cymru?
Da iawn Beth (a Leanne). With both in mind, amongst others, every time someone good and FOR the people raise their heads in politics, they are malleted down like whack a mole because the order must be maintained don’t y’know.? This is the time to raise those heads again and have the mallets confiscated from the hands of the current complicit ruling Labour Party and the obvious others who need no introduction.
I can only imagine what you’ve been through via the “glorious” Wales Labour party, it’s endless history parade and it’s self declared worthiness, cheerfully manifested in it’s toxic and vicious machine politics. It’s everyday hypocrisy and careerism, it’s lack of any possible vision except “us”.
Very best for the future & much respect
Good luck, Beth, and don’t stop speaking out. What’s happened doesn’t surprise me because it’s well documented that Starmer and his Machiavellian Spin doctor do not like opposing views. The book written by two Westminster bubble insiders, called Get In, says so much about these people. As long as they get power, anything goes with Starmer’s Labour, including the dark arts. When they get it, they have rapidly shown how to destroy hope. Voters would expect Labour at least to offer better than the Tories. But in many respects, they are worse. The removal of disability benefits, the Winter fuel… Read more »
….. Unless we do leave the UK and set up our own independent nation.
We can deport those fascists out of Wales.
We’d love to welcome you in Plaid Cymru, Beth, you were always wasted on the Labour Party!
Beth Winter’s opinion piece for me recalls an anecdote which a long-standing councillor shared with me back in the 1990s, when I was active in local politics in the north-west of England. When, having been newly elected as one of the rather few Lib Dem members in the town hall, she’d attended her first full council meeting, she was greeted cheerfully by a member of the ruling Labour group. In the course of their friendly conversation, he asked her whether she’d thought of the strategy she might adopt in dealing with her ‘enemies’ on the council. She replied: ‘Well, I… Read more »
This is inevitable with two party “broad church” politics, on both sides of the political divide. One ideology takes control of the church and is forced to muzzle the other half in order to create the illusion of unity. Eventually that illusion cracks and the other half gets control and does the muzzling. It’s a consequence of the voting system. The solution is a fairer voting system so both broad church parties can split into parties with a consistent ideology. Voters not party apparatchiks can then choose between the ideologies of Corbynism, Blairism, Cameronism and Johnsonism. Unfortunately the opportunity for… Read more »
I am not surprised in the slightest. Labour has long been captured by the UK establishment. It exists to preserve the status quo and not to challenge it. Many good progressives are labouring (excuse the pun) under a misconception. But Beth, there’s a deeper truth. The Unionism Labour espouses is in support of the British Empire. Though vast territories have been ceeded, the UK remains constitutionally unchanged and it’s economic heart still beats. The administration of Britain, its cultural and educational institutions also remain geared towards empire. It might be on its deathbed but it aint gone yet. Look at… Read more »
I’ve heard Beth speak at Yes Cymru rallies and everyone spoke really highly of her. Not really surprised that her fellow politicians didn’t want her there – too honest probably. However, those here that think Plaid is any better – please take your rose tinted glasses off. Project Pawb revealed that it’s same ****, different party. Don’t fool yourselves that Plaid somehow holds the moral high ground or that we do things better in Cymru. We don’t and there’s enough evidence out there to support what I say. South Wales Fire Service, WRU, FAW.
I think that’s absolutely right. So much, if not all politics, is the cladding of “cause”, noble and otherwise, wrapped around the driving motives of political career career and advancement. There’s nothing new in any of this, vis Robert Michael’s classic German SPD analysis “Political Parties” from just prior to WW1. The iron law of oligarchy and the residual power of the entrenched. What makes it vicious now is that its taking place in a society visibly dysfunctional, exhausted and falling to pieces and in which real change is portrayed & spun as impossible, fodder only for fools. A war… Read more »
The final flailings of a dying empire … ‘The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born’
Slipknot nailed it … “People = … ”
However, if we don’t replace the UK what hope do we have of changing the status quo. There’s human nature, then there’s the cesspit that Labour have become.
Sorry to hear of your dreadfull experiences. What struck me most about this is your experience of the lack of support to you from the Labour Party and Parliamentary HR ‘internal’ processes. If you had worked in a global corporation or big business, as I have, you’d have realised pretty quickly (as I did and was warned about by colleagues) that Personnel depts (HR) are not there to help or support the staff or workers. They’re there to ward off complaints, shunt complainents into deadend career progression and find excuses to get rid. Sadly, it’s not surprising that political parties… Read more »
Beth, a very brave, honest and insightful article. Cleary, you had a dreadful experience that reveals the worst of Labour Party politics. Personally, I often found while trying to initiate social change that such experiences although very painful and stressful at the time, can provide useful insights into ourselves and what we are up against. The roots of the problem are not in us but in the nature of political power and control and how they work to exclude people who challenge the dominant thinking. I am glad to hear that the fog is clearing and that you are gaining… Read more »