Confusion surrounds Jeremy Corbyn's launch of ‘Your Party'

Times

2 days ago

Jeremy Corbyn's launch of a new political party suffered a bumpy start as he was immediately forced to clear up confusion over its name and play down claims of a split.
The former Labour leader ended weeks of speculation after an aborted launch earlier in July with the unveiling of a new movement on Thursday dubbed 'Your Party'.
However, within minutes, Zarah Sultana, the party's co-founder and a fellow independent MP, intervened to confirm that was not the party's new name.
Instead, she said that members of the radical left-wing movement would get to choose the name at a conference, to be held in the coming months — probably during autumn.
It also emerged that members would set policies, aims and strategy — prompting questions over how substantive the party that Corbyn and Sultana had launched would be.
Labour strategists believe that the new party could still cost them a handful of seats to pro-Gaza independents, given four such MPs announced that they were joining Corbyn and Sultana's party within hours of its launch. There are also concerns that a split on the left could help Reform win in dozens of constituencies.
Corbyn on Thursday denied that it had been a 'messy' start to the project, which was months in the making and designed to pave the way for his political comeback.
Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana announced the new party on X
There was instantly disunity between the two MPs
He insisted that the new party had a 'totally coherent approach' and stressed that he was working in unity with Sultana, the Coventry South MP who lost the Labour whip for voting against the two-child benefit cap last year but resigned her party membership on July 3.
After internal tensions among those involved in organising the new party were reported, Corbyn downplayed the significance of him giving interviews without Sultana to mark the launch. He told broadcasters: 'We're working absolutely together on this. She happens to be, as far as I know at this moment, in Coventry.'
Labour MPs mocked confusion over the name, with one, Mike Reader, posting on social media: 'I strongly recommend Votey McVote Face.'
James Cleverly, the Tory shadow housing secretary, also said: 'To fumble one political party launch, Ms Sultana, may be regarded as a misfortune; to fumble twice looks like carelessness.'
Zia Yusuf, a senior Reform UK figure and former chairman, added: 'From a branding perspective this is one of the worst party names ever.'
Critics said that the confusion was emblematic of the chaos that has dogged the new party in the weeks since Sultana pre-emptively announced it without Corbyn's agreement.
Sultana said on July 3 that she was relinquishing her Labour Party membership to 'co-lead' a new party. However, Corbyn said at the time that discussions were continuing and made no mention of any leader or co-leaders. His team were deeply unhappy at the handling of the botched launch at the start of the month.
The pair put on a united front when they finally announced the launch, promising 'a new kind of political party' that 'belongs to you'.
Sultana resigned from Labour this month
ROGER HARRIS/UK PARLIAMENT
In a joint statement, they called for 'a mass redistribution of wealth and power' and said that the party would push for policies such as the nationalisation of water and mail.
They also said that it would stand for 'the radical idea that all human life has equal value', putting support for Palestine at the heart of the launch.
'Now, more than ever, we must defend the right to protest against genocide,' their joint statement said.
The new party did gain immediate support from four pro-Gaza independents, who previously formed a grouping in parliament with Corbyn known as the independent alliance.
Senior Labour sources downplayed the prospect of defections from within the party's ranks and MPs in the left-wing caucus known as the Socialist Campaign Group also said that they would not leave Labour to join Corbyn's party.
Clive Lewis, a backbencher, said that he was 'staying put, not because it's easy — but because now more than ever, we need progressive voices in the Labour Party and this government'. He added: 'The U-turn on PIP [personal independence payments] cuts and the role progressive MPs in the PLP [parliamentary Labour party] played in making that happen, showed exactly why that presence matters.'
Government insiders still acknowledged the potential for a split on the left to cause Labour significant headaches at the next general election. They admitted that disaffected voters were already turning to parties including the Liberal Democrats, the Greens, the SNP and Plaid Cymru, and believe that Corbyn's new party could cost them seats.
A split on the left could also mean Nigel Farage's Reform UK takes dozens of seats off Labour, which won 411 out of 650 seats in the last general election, but included many thin majorities.
A Labour source brushed off the launch of a new party, saying: 'The electorate has twice given its verdict on a Jeremy Corbyn-led party.' They were referring to the former leader having led the party to defeat in 2017 and 2019, before being expelled by Starmer for his response to a report on antisemitism.
It is not immediately clear how damaging the formation of the new party will be for Labour. But a poll conducted last month by More In Common about a hypothetical Corbyn-led party put it on 10 per cent — with most voters drawn from Labour and the Greens.
Jeremy Corbyn speaks to Sky News after announcing the creation of a new political party at Islington town hall, north London
LEON NEAL/GETTY IMAGES
The prospect of pro-Palestine candidates being fielded against Labour MPs in a more organised fashion has also prompted concern inside the party.
Sources said that Sultana had told friends she planned to stand in Birmingham at the next election — probably against Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary.
The Coventry South East seat that Sultana's constituency was previously known as was held by David Nellist, a Labour left-wing firebrand, until 1992. He ran as an independent, having been kicked out of the party for being linked to the Militant tendency the year before, but ultimately lost.
The Times has been told that Sultana is wary of a similar fate and has explored standing in Birmingham Ladywood instead, where Mahmood came less than 3,500 votes from losing last July.
She was one of several senior Labour MPs to hold on narrowly, as well as Jess Phillips in Birmingham Yardley, and Wes Streeting in Ilford North.
A source close to Mahmood said: 'Sultana will chicken run from Coventry for sure, but she'd be mad to take on Shabana in her backyard. Shabana's roots in that community are deep, and Sultana's are not.' Sultana did not respond to requests for comment.
Karie Murphy, Corbyn's former chief of staff when he was leader of the opposition, was also said to have tried to recruit the Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman to join the working group that will steer the new party's formation.