Stephen Jolly | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Mayor of Yarra | |
| Assumed office 19 November 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Edward Crossland |
| Councillor of theCity of Yarra forMacKillop Ward | |
| Assumed office 26 October 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Ward re-established |
| Councillor of theCity of Yarra forLangridge Ward | |
| In office 26 November 2004 – 26 October 2024 | |
| Succeeded by | Evangeline Aston |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1962 (age 62–63) London, England |
| Nationality | Australian, Irish |
| Political party | Yarra For All (2024–present) Independent (2017–2018, 2019–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Labour (Ireland) (1982–1985) Socialist (1985–2016) The Socialists (2016–2017) Victorian Socialists (2018–2019) |
| Residence(s) | Melbourne, Australia |
| Alma mater | University of Cape Town |
| Occupation | Construction worker CFMMEU delegate Councillor (Yarra City Council) |
| Profession | Politician |
| Website | www |
| Part ofa series on |
| Socialism in Australia |
|---|
 |
Organisations(Defunct)
|
Literature Newspapers/Journals/Magazines Active Historical |
Stephen Jolly (born 1962) is an Australian politician and socialist activist.[1] He currently serves as themayor of Yarra and has been a councillor of theCity of Yarra since 2004, initially representingLangridge Ward before being elected toMacKillop Ward in 2024.
Jolly was previously the president and lead candidate for theVictorian Socialists during the2018 Victorian state election.
Jolly was born in London to an Irish single mother who had left Ireland due to concerns regarding the predominantCatholic Church's attitude towards single parents.[2] He was raised in Ireland by his grandparents in a public housing estate.[2] Jolly moved to study at theUniversity of Cape Town in 1977. He moved toSydney, Australia in 1985 with his Australian wife.[2] Jolly moved toMelbourne after 1989.[2]
On Jolly's arrival to Australia he became involved in theMilitant faction of theAustralian Labor Party (later renamed to the Socialist Party), serving as Editor of its newspaperThe Militant and as National Secretary until 2000.[2] While working in construction, he has served as a shop steward with theConstruction, Forestry, Mining, Maritime and Energy Union.[3]
In 1989, at the age of 27, Jolly was a first-hand witness of the1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre while he was speaking to protestors and helped them organise.[4] Jolly was reportedly the only Westerner to address "the half-a-million strong crowd of students occupying Tiananmen Square".[2] He noted in a 1990 news article that the protestors "never believed thePeople's Army would turn against them" and has since been involved inpro-democracy in China rallies.[5]
In 1993, Jolly and Militant was involved in a 360-day occupation ofRichmond High School, organised to prevent the Victorian government from closing the school.[2] During the occupation he stood on the front lines as police advanced towards them with raised batons.[2] In 2000, he supported and was involved in theS11anti-globalisation protests in Melbourne.[6] In 2011 and 2012, he pledged to support theOccupy Melbourne movement againstcorporate influence in politics.[7][8]
Jolly's socialist political stances have led to hostile reactions from far-right groups such as theUnited Patriots Front, which has promoted rallies and death threats against him.[9][10] In 2015, a man was charged over death and rape threats towards Jolly.[11]
In 2016, Jolly led a mass resignation from the Socialist Party (nowSocialist Action). He alleged there had been a cover-up of allegations of sexual abuse within the party.[12] The party denied any cover-up.[13][14] Jolly and others who had left then established a new group,The Socialists.[12] In 2018 he joined theVictorian Socialists, an electoral alliance combining theSocialist 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.[15]
In 2004, he was elected as a Councillor forCity of Yarra in the Langridge Ward, representing the suburbs of Abbotsford, Alphington, Clifton Hill, Collingwood, Fairfield, Fitzroy and Richmond.[16] In 2017, Jolly voted in favour of the controversial decision to cancel its Australia Day ceremony as a part of the Change the Date campaign.[17] This resulted in backlash from thefederal government whereby the council was stripped of its citizenship powers and the council being protested by nationalist groups.[18][19]
In 2024 Jolly was elected as the Councillor for the Mackillop ward.[20] Jolly ran with a grouping of independents named "Yarra for All".[21] The grouping picked up 4 out of 9 councillors, dislodging the Greens from power.[21] On 19 November 2024 Jolly was elected mayor of the City of Yarra.[22]
| Yarra City Council, Landgrige Ward | |||||
| Election year | Total votes | % | ±% | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 1,162 | 12.34 |  12.34% | 1 / 3 | |
| 2008 | 2,830 | 26.29 | 13.95% | 1 / 3 | |
| 2012 | 3,515 | 34.24 | 7.95% | 1 / 3 | |
| 2016 | 3,884 | 31.06 |  3.18% | 1 / 3 | |
| 2020 | 4,836 | 26.07% | 4.99% | 1 / 3 | |
| Yarra City Council, Mackillop Ward | |||||
| Election year | Total votes | % | ±% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2,757 | 51.35 | New ward | ||
Jolly has attempted to contest the Victorianelectoral district of Richmond as a member of the Socialist Party several times. In these elections he stood as anindependent, as the party was not registered with the VEC. In the1999 Victorian state election he gained 12.0% of the vote.[23] They re-contested the seat in the 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014 state elections, with lesser success. During these elections the party campaigned for policies such as free public transport, promoting the local arts scene, andanti-capitalism.[24] Their 2010 campaign was supported by the CFMEU, ETU, and UFU, who raised $25,000 for the campaign.[25]
| Electoral district of Richmond | |||||
| Election year | Total votes | % | ±% | Overall vote rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 4,213 | 12.0 | 12.0% | 3/3 | |
| 2002 | 629 | 2.0 | 9.8% | 5/5 | |
| 2006 | 1,805 | 5.6 | 3.6% | 4/7 | |
| 2010 | 3,097 | 8.7 | 3.0% | 4/5 | |
| 2014 | 3,407 | 8.5 | 0.2% | 4/7 | |
In February 2018, Jolly announced that he will be contesting a seat in the Legislative Council in the2018 Victorian state elections as a leading candidate of theVictorian Socialists ticket.[26][3] Jolly stated this campaign attempted to fight for the programs promoted by international left-wing politicians such asJeremy Corbyn,Bernie Sanders, andJean-Luc Mélenchon.[27] The decision to run in theNorthern Metropolitan Region has been considered controversial byReason Party'sFiona Patten, due to the possibility of splitting the non-conservative vote in the count for the last seat.[28] This ticket was supported by a wide variety of trade union groups, including theETU,NUW,CFMMEU,UFU,AMIEU, andVAHPA.[29][30] The ETU secretary Troy Gray justified this support over parties such as theAustralian Labor Party, a traditional unionist party, by stating that Jolly was the only candidate representing "blue collar values".[29] The campaign was also endorsed by several public figures such asNoam Chomsky,Gary Foley, andTariq Ali. Following allegations of an unspecified nature, Jolly resigned from Victorian Socialists in September 2019.[15]
| Northern Metropolitan Region | |||||
| Election year | Total votes | % | ±% | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018[31] | 18,899 | 4.19 | 4.39% | 0 / 5 | |
In October 2025, Stephen Jolly was charged with assault following an alleged incident in Fitzroy in November 2024. He has stated that he will contest the charge.[32][33]
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)