Stephen Jolly (born 1962) is an Australian politician and socialist activist.
Jolly was previously the president and lead candidate for the Victorian Socialists during the 2018 Victorian state election.
Life and education
Jolly was born in London to an Irish single mother who had left Ireland due to concerns regarding the predominant
Catholic Church's attitude towards single parents.
He was raised in Ireland by his grandparents in a public housing estate.
[ Jolly moved to study at the University of Cape Town in 1977. He moved to Sydney, Australia in 1985 with his Australian wife.][ Jolly moved to Melbourne after 1989.][
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Activism
On Jolly's arrival to Australia he became involved in the Militant faction of the Australian Labor Party (later renamed to the Socialist Party), serving as Editor of its newspaper The Militant and as National Secretary until 2000.[ While working in construction, he has served as a shop steward with the CFMEU.]
In 1989, at the age of 27, Jolly was a first-hand witness of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre while he was speaking to protestors and helped them organise.[ He noted in a 1990 news article that the protestors "never believed the People's Army would turn against them" and has since been involved in pro-democracy in China rallies.]
In 1993, Jolly and Militant was involved in a 360-day occupation of Richmond High School, organised to prevent the Victorian government from closing the school.[ During the occupation he stood on the front lines as police advanced towards them with raised batons.][ In 2000, he supported and was involved in the S11 anti-globalisation protests in Melbourne.]
Jolly's socialist political stances have led to hostile reactions from far-right groups such as the United Patriots Front, which has promoted rallies and death threats against him.
In 2016, Jolly led a mass resignation from the Socialist Party (now Socialist Action). He alleged there had been a cover-up of allegations of sexual abuse within the party.[ Statement from Socialist Party National Committee Socialist Party website 24 February 2016][ A reply to former comrades in New Zealand Socialist Party website 31 March 2016] Jolly and others who had left then established a new group, The Socialists.[ In 2018 he joined the Victorian Socialists, an electoral alliance combining the Socialist Alliance, Socialist Alternative, as well as non-party affiliated socialists. Jolly resigned from the Victorian Socialists in September of 2019 after the party executive voted to suspend his membership.]
Political career
Local government (2004–present)
In 2004, he was elected as a Councillor for City of Yarra in the Langridge Ward, representing the suburbs of Abbotsford, Alphington, Clifton Hill, Collingwood, Fairfield, Fitzroy and Richmond.
In 2024 Jolly was elected as the Councillor for the Mackillop ward.[ On 19 November 2024 Jolly was elected mayor of the City of Yarra.]
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| Yarra City Council, Landgrige Ward |
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| Yarra City Council, Mackillop Ward |
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State government campaigns
Socialist Party (1999–2016)
Jolly has attempted to contest the Victorian electoral district of Richmond as a member of the Socialist Party several times. In these elections he stood as an independent, as the party was not registered with the VEC. In the 1999 Victorian state election he gained 12.0% of the vote.
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| Electoral district of Richmond |
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Victorian Socialists (2018-2019)
In February 2018, Jolly announced that he will be contesting a seat in the Legislative Council in the 2018 Victorian state elections as a leading candidate of the Victorian Socialists ticket.[ Jolly stated this campaign attempted to fight for the programs promoted by international left-wing politicians such as Jeremy Corbyn, Bernie Sanders, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon.][ The campaign was also endorsed by several public figures such as Noam Chomsky, Gary Foley, and Tariq Ali. Following allegations of an unspecified nature, Jolly split from Victorian Socialists in September 2019.][
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| Northern Metropolitan Region |
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Bibliography
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Eyewitness in China (Melbourne: Socialist Party, 1989)
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Behind the Lines – Richmond Secondary College: a school that dared to fight (Melbourne: Global Books, 1996)
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That Which Surrounds Us: Refugees, Racism and Capitalism in Australia (Melbourne: Socialist Party, 2002)
External links
