Much has changed in the Labour Party since the devastating electoral defeat it experienced in December 2019. With almost a year at the helm, its new leader Keir Starmer has veered sharply to the right and distanced himself from many of the policies that helped secure Labour’s historic swing in 2017 — much to the disappointment of many rank-and-file members. This week, as the Tories table a budget that will include an increase in corporation tax, Labour’s leadership has put itself in the odd position of opposing the move despite its popularity across the country.

Having first entered the House of Commons in a 1996 by-election following a stint as leader of Leeds City Council, Jon Trickett was later parliamentary secretary to Gordon Brown and would become the first MP to nominate Jeremy Corbyn in Labour’s 2015 leadership election. Representing the Northern constituency of Hemsworth, he has continued to make the case for an ambitious socialist alternative and has helped author several analyses of Labour’s election defeat and what must come next for Britain’s left.

In part one of a two-part conversation, Jacobin’s Luke Savage spoke to Trickett about Boris Johnson’s budget, the politics of corporate taxation, and the need for Labour to embrace a bold alternative. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.