Jeremy Corbyn confirms new party with Zarah Sultana: “Change is coming”
- Text by Isaac Muk
- Photography by Marc Sethi
A real alternative? — Sultana revealed that she was quitting the Labour Party yesterday evening, saying that she was going to co-lead a new party with the former Labour leader.
Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed that he is setting up a political party with Zarah Sultana, which he will work with the former Labour MP for Coventry South to form.
In a statement posted on social media, Corbyn said: “Real change is coming. One year on from the election, this Labour government has refused to deliver the change people expected and deserved. Poverty, inequality and war are not inevitable. Our country needs to change direction, now.
“Congratulations to Zarah Sultana on her principled decision to leave the Labour Party. I am delighted she will help us build a real alternative,” he continued.
- Read next: Jeremy Corbyn isn’t going anywhere
He said that the full details and “democratic foundations” for the party were still under discussion, but he was “excited to work alongside all communities to fight for the future people deserve”.
Corbyn has been an independent MP since 2024, when he was ousted from the Labour Party after serving as an MP for the party since 1983. At the 2024 general election he ran as an independent MP, beating out Labour candidate Praful Nargund.
Sultana announced that she was quitting the Labour Party yesterday evening, July 3, saying that she would “co-lead” the party with Corbyn. She wrote: “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper. Just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population.
“Meanwhile, a billionaire-backed grifter is leading the polls, because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives,” she continued. “And across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop the genocide in Gaza as terrorists.”
Sultana lost the Labour whip last year after supporting a move that would scrap the two-child benefit cap, a move she said she would “do it again”.
“In 2029, the choice will be stark: socialism or barbarism.”
Isaac Muk is Huck’s digital editor. Follow him on Bluesky.
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