The fledgling Victorian Socialists party has been given a major boost in its push for a seat in state parliament, securing a $50,000 donation from the Electrical Trades Union.

The powerful blue-collar union has backed the party's maiden campaign, in which it hopes to steal votes from Labor and the Greens in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.

The Victorian Socialists applied to register as a political party on Thursday, having secured the necessary 500 members.

Victorian Socialists candidates Stephen Jolly and Sue Bolton. Credit:Joe Armao

The party is headed by Stephen Jolly, a prominent Yarra City councillor who has previously run against Labor MP Richard Wynne in the lower house seat of Richmond.