Do you feel that? That small niggling feeling? A long-forgotten sense that something might just be OK? Listening to the news this morning of Zohran Mamdani’s election as New York’s mayor, it’s understandable to be confused by this new sensation, something you haven’t felt in a while. A niggling, irresistible, almost dangerous, sense of hope.

Mamdani has been elected in a decisive victory as the next New York mayor. The 34-year-old, who stood on a platform of affordability in an eye-wateringly expensive city, will soon be the first Muslim mayor of New York, and the youngest mayor in over 100 years. With policies like affordable childcare, rent control and free buses, Mamdani ran on the agenda of positivity and change, not pessimism, hate or defeat. He did it with a charming affability and an online adroitness that ran circles around his competitors.

“We chose hope together,” said Mamdani in his victory speech. “Hope over tyranny. Hope over big money and small ideas. Hope over despair.”

Sure, it’s good political speech writing, but Mamdani’s victory boasts a compelling narrative: that his win defied the billionaire class, all while the Democratic Party has been in complete disarray. When political influence feels like it can be bought, and the left has no new ideas, Mamdani’s victory is a testament to the power of the grassroots movement and a victory for the politics of hope.

During Mamdani’s campaign, the billionaire class poured millions of dollars into stopping him. Terrified of the prospect of moderate tax rises, various figures (whom we won’t name for legal reasons) put millions into PACs (tax-exempt organisations that campaign for political figures) to support Mamdani’s main rival, Andrew Cuomo, or undermine Mamdani as a credible candidate. Instead of effectively decimating his campaign, their attempts to knock down Mamdani usually backfired, resulting in social media takedowns and more money for the 34-year-old’s team. In the end, Mamdani definitively beat Cuomo in the Democratic primary process and then went on to beat him again after he stood as an independent.

There is something undeniably satisfying about the David vs Goliath dynamic in Mamdani’s election, but his mandate by the people of New York is also a victory for democracy. The agenda of big business – be it oil and gas giants or big tech – has influenced politics across the globe, undermining democracy and making it harder for politicians to consider the concerns of working people over the profit margins of corporations. It is no surprise that as Mamdani pushed for rent controls, figures like Gebbia, whose company Airbnb has been accused of fuelling the housing crisis, tried to stop him. Mamdani’s campaign proved that more money doesn’t always win.

Across the pond, over three thousand miles away, Labour MPs celebrated Mamdani’s victory. Health Secretary Wes Streeting took to X to congratulate Mamdani, celebrating his “inspirational campaign”. Zarah Sultana, Your Party co-founder and MP for Coventry South, pointed out that under Starmer, Mamdani would have likely been kicked out.

Sultana’s post touches on a weakness in Starmer’s Labour. Under his leadership, the Labour Party has been one that pushes a vacuous vision of politics, following a similar (and failing) National Democratic Party strategy: appealing to the centre, standing for nothing, and keeping big business close. Lucy Powell’s election as deputy leader over Starmer loyalist Bridget Phillipson spoke to membership disgruntled by the direction of the Starmer party. Not to mention the growing popularity of the Green Party under Zack Polanski.

Zohran Mamdani’s victory should be a warning sign to Labour. Starmer was, after all, elected as leader on a socialist agenda, but now tries to outflank Reform on migration policy or crack down on trans rights. But these tactics are failing: Labour’s popularity has plummeted, with polling putting Starmer as his least favourable since the election. Unlike Mamdani, Starmer came into power with a message of pessimism, harping on about the “£22 billion blackhole”. Today, Britons are still struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and harbour an economic pessimism. Starmer’s policies are failing.

While Starmer’s Labour has shifted to the right, the membership of the Green Party under Zack Polanski grows. Much like Mamdani, Polanski campaigns on an explicitly socialist agenda that is down-to-earth and compelling, unlike the cyborg-like communications of the Labour party. Polanski pushes a wealth tax, affordable housing and free childcare – striking similar to Mumdani.