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Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed plans to build a new political party as an alternative to Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour, on the first anniversary of the prime minister’s landslide general election victory.
The former Labour leader’s comments came a day after former Labour MP Zarah Sultana announced plans to “co-lead the founding of a new party” with him.
“Our country needs to change direction, now,” Corbyn posted on X.
“The democratic foundations of a new kind of political party will soon take shape,” he added, noting that “discussions are ongoing”.
An ally of Corbyn, who led the Labour party between 2015 and 2020, had previously said he was frustrated that Sultana had made her initial announcement without consulting him first.
“Zarah has really overplayed her hand,” according to the ally, adding that “she jumped the gun to get the data and the donations”.
Corbyn did not confirm whether either he or Sultana were planning to lead the new movement.
Labour removed the whip from Corbyn in November 2020 after a damning official report into antisemitism in the party while he was leader. He was re-elected as an independent MP at last year’s general election.
Sultana was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour party last year for voting against the government’s welfare policies.
Two of Corbyn’s closest political allies, Labour MP Diane Abbott and independent MP John McDonnell, said they had no plans to join the breakaway party, alluding to some confusion about the project.
Abbott told the FT: “I don’t know much about it, but . . . I’m not going to join it for the time being, there is a lack of clarity about what’s actually happening.”
McDonnell, who was shadow chancellor under Corbyn, had the Labour whip removed at the same time as Sultana after they voted in favour of an opposition motion to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
He said on Friday: “I am a Labour party member”, and added that it was “sad” that Sultana had gone but “I am remaining in the party and hope the whip will be restored soon”.
Apparent fractures in the new party before it has even launched point to stark challenges for a rival movement on the far left, which is known for infighting and ideological splits.
Despite the apparently botched launch, the threat of a new party underlines the risks to Starmer from those on the left seeking to capitalise on anger and disenchantment with his government.
A recent poll conducted by More in Common found that a new Corbyn-led party would win 10 per cent of the vote, reducing Labour’s share from 23 per cent to 20 per cent and cutting the Green party’s from 9 per cent to 5 per cent. It also found that such a grouping would garner more support than any other party from 18- to 24-year-olds.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage — who has spoken previously about how splits on the left would benefit his populist right-wing party — appeared to relish the news on Thursday evening.
“If you thought Keir Starmer was having a bad week, it just got a whole lot worse,” he wrote on X.
A Reform spokesperson said the party was “very happy”.
Meanwhile, one of the leading candidates to become Green party leader in September, self-described eco-populist Zack Polanski, indicated he might be open to working with the new group, writing on X that “anyone who wants to take on the Tories, Reform and this failing Labour government is a friend of mine”.
In the post announcing her plans, Sultana said: “Poverty is growing, inequality is obscene and the two-party system offers nothing but managed decline and broken promises.”
