Can the Alliance revive the socialist left?

The Alliance Party is back, promising to revive the socialist politics it says Labour has abandoned. But does New Zealand need another party on the left?

It's been more than 30 years since the Alliance Party emerged in the wake of the Fourth Labour Government's neoliberal reforms.

For a time, the Alliance became a significant force in New Zealand politics, challenging the economic direction of both major parties and eventually entering government in coalition with Labour under Helen Clark.

But the party fractured during its time in government and eventually disappeared from Parliament altogether.

Now, nearly 25 years later, the Alliance is making a comeback.

With a programme calling for a major expansion of public services, public ownership and government intervention in the economy, the revived party is promising a return to the kind of robust social democracy that has largely disappeared from New Zealand politics.

But why has the Alliance returned now? What separates it from Labour and the Greens? And is there room for another party on the left?

In the latest episode of In Brief, Ollie Neas speaks to Alliance leader Victor Billot about what’s brought the Alliance back, the party's plans to restore full employment, and its ambition to rebuild a political movement rooted in the working class.

Watch the full conversation below and subscribe to Public Interest for more discussions making sense of politics and power in Aotearoa.

This episode was edited by Jeremy Leveridge.