Mamdani’s script, Europe’s lesson

European Left leaders look to his grassroots campaign in New York’s mayoral election, sharply focused on affordability

The meteoric rise of left‑leaning Zohran Mamdani from a New York State Assembly member to the mayor of New York has sparked huge interest among Europe’s leftist parties, whose representatives rushed to get a first‑hand understanding of the grassroots campaign carried out by the man who became the youngest mayor of the city, known as the heart of global capitalism.

The 34‑year‑old progressive Democrat, who registered a historic victory in the New York mayoral polls, has prompted leftist parties in Europe to take notes and explore the possibilities of replicating relevant parts of the Mamdani playbook back home.

Left parties from Germany, France and their larger grouping in the European Parliament rushed leaders to study the campaign and eventual victory of Mamdani, all along the frontrunner in the race.

European Left leaders’ task at hand is to pick tips from Mamdani’s grassroots campaign, sharply focused on the affordability issue burdening many European cities.

Die Linke (The Left), Germany’s leftist party that performed remarkably well in the February elections, sent four senior office bearers. They are assigned to meet Mamdani’s campaign managers and explore the possibility of borrowing the playbook or ideas from it for Berlin’s state legislature elections next September.

The Left group of the European Parliament in Brussels sent its French co-chair Manon Aubry to New York over a week ago. Aubry, who represents France Unbowed, a French Left party, was part of the last leg of the Mamdani campaign.

This comes at a time when the Centre-Left received a massive booster shot with the performance of D66 — short for Democrats 66 — in the Dutch snap polls last week. D66, which tied at 26 seats each with ‘Dutch Trump’ Geert Wilder’s far-right Party for Freedom, is most likely to form the next government with the help of coalition partners. 

Progressives and Left-liberals are already celebrating since D66 leader Rob Jetten, 38, the openly gay man who campaigned on climate policy and affordable housing, is tipped to become the youngest Dutch prime minister.

The affordability question has found acceptance in the French capital as well.

Paris mayoral aspirant David Belliard of The Greens is one leader who followed the Mamdani campaign very closely, especially since the French capital too grapples with a high cost of living.

“Today we have our eyes fixed on New York,” he commented on X, alluding to how Mamdani “showed that the left can be radical, concrete, and positive. Up to the challenge of the moment.” Taking his cue from Mamdani’s pitch, Belliard wants to provide emergency shelters for the 3,500 people who sleep on the streets of Paris.

With the twist in the pitch by raising the affordability question on behalf of the Parisian working class, Belliard hopes to do a Mamdani and elevate the prospects of The Greens, long relegated to the role of junior partner of the centre-Left mayors of Paris.

US President Donald Trump never minced words in calling Mamdani a “Communist”, although Mamdani identifies himself as a “democratic socialist”.

Mamdani’s call for “a better distribution of wealth for God’s children”, as envisaged by Martin Luther King, has appealed to the European left-socialist ecosystem.

The Left party of Germany had startled everyone with its performance in the February elections by securing 8.8% of votes, up from 4.9% in 2021, to win 64 seats in Parliament.

The rise of the far-right Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) and its continuing popularity in successive popularity ratings has been a matter of concern in a country still struggling to shake off the shadow of the Nazis and the Holocaust that killed six million Jews and five million others.

The Left (not to be confused with Germany’s party of the same name) is one of eight groups in the European Parliament that enjoys considerable say. With 46 members drawn from various leftist parties across the European Union, from where they are elected members, the group stands up for workers, the environment, feminism, peace and human rights.

Contrary to the general perception, especially in India, that all of Europe is true-blue capitalist, the overarching Left, including Communists, socialists and the Centre-Left parties, wields considerable influence in policymaking.

The policies of The Greens and social democrats across the European Union often dovetail with those of The Left, and they together are formidable, especially in matters related to trade unions, human rights and labour rights, among others.

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Berlin)