‘Ex-Communist’ Munira Mirza & Tory Boris Johnson: Contrarians in common
The resignation of Boris Johnson’s long time policy chief Munira Mirza has sparked news interest
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60257702
Mirza has worked for Johnson since his days as London Mayor in 2008. In 2010 her salary as arts advisor to Johnson was £127,874 (Sonia Purnell Just Boris). As someone with one presumes some grasp of marxism, Mirza will have understood the material benefits of Boris. Its not the kind of money one could attract from a job anywhere in left wing politics (rightly so). At No.10 she was paid £145,000 a year
Accounts wonder how Ms Mirza, who wrote for Living Marxism in the 1990s and was associated with the small Revolutionary Communist Party (not to be confused with the then CPGB or the CPB now) became such an important figure in a Tory Government.
In recent times Ms Mirza has said that she is not a Conservative and I suspect that is right, though she may share a range of policy positions with the Tories.
To understand her politics its necessary (briefly) to understand what the RCP and LM were about. The Guardian once erroneously claimed I was the editor of the magazine- in fact I was nothing to do with it and didn’t share its politics. However to know that I did need to understand what they were. While the RCP appeared on the left in reality its specialism was to have a positions that distinguished itself from the rest of the left. While most for example wanted to no platform the fascist BNP, the RCP was in favour of arguing with them. There was a degree of what is now called climate scepticism and a frankly disgraceful position that AIDS was no big issue. This added up to a contrarian politics, striking positions to be different.
The RCP and LM disappeared but its ideas and numbers of its personnel are to be found in a range of positions now. Perhaps the most well known is Spiked which continues the contrarian tradition, very largely on the right.
What is the connection with Johnson? Clearly he has never been in anyway on the left. However as must be clear to many he is fairly elastic in the views he holds. He is ready to take positions to create political turbulence if it suits him even if they are ones he doesn’t particularly subscribe to 100%
While at Downing St Ms Mirza has been robust in pursuing Culture Wars particularly on matters of race and ethnicity. Johnson has a poor record in these areas but also clearly saw advantage in the political controversy debates around statues, British history and so on have promoted. In short like Mirza, Johnson is quite capable of striking contrarian positions to promote his own interests
George Monbiot from the Guardian in 2003 on the LM diaspora
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2003/dec/09/highereducation.uk2
Lots more info via Evan Smith @evanishistory An Australia based socialist historian who has researched the RCP/LM
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Effing right Keith