Corbyn launches new party to 'take on rich and powerful'

Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is launching a new political party to "take on the rich and powerful" and campaign for the redistribution of wealth.

The independent MP for Islington North said the party - which does not yet have a name - would offer an alternative to the "control freaks" of Labour and the "dangerously divisive" politics of Reform UK.

Earlier, Corbyn issued a joint statement with Zarah Sultana, who recently quit Labour to become an independent MP, saying: "It's time for a new kind of political party - one that belongs to you."

Responding to the launch, a Labour Party source said: "The electorate has twice given its verdict on a Jeremy Corbyn led party."

In a statement announcing plans to form a new party, Corbyn and Sultana vowed to fight injustices such as child poverty, giant corporations making "a fortune from rising bills" and the government saying "there is no money for the poor, but billions for war".

Asked whether his party would be a re-hash of Labour under his leadership, Corbyn said: "The Labour Party is a very top-down, highly centralised party that is full of control freaks who want to control whatever goes on within the party...

"This is going to be community-led, community-based, grassroot-led, this is going to be very different, and you know what? It's going to be fun."

Speaking to the BBC on Thursday evening ahead of a local community event in his Islington constituency, he added the party structure would be "quite federal".

He added there would be a "core set of values and beliefs" but also a "lot of local autonomy".

Your Party is the name of the sign-up website, but Sultana posted on X to correct some early reports suggesting this was the new party's name, saying: "It's not called Your Party!"

Corbyn rejected suggestions the new venture had been haphazardly launched, telling reporters: "It's not messy at all, it's a totally coherent approach."

Asked when they would choose a name for the party, he said: "We're going to decide when we've had all the responses, and so far the response rate has been massive.

"They've been coming in at 500 a minute wanting to support and join the new party."

He also insisted relations with Sultana were "all fine", saying "we're working absolutely together on this" although his co-leader was in her Coventry constituency.

The new co-leaders come from very different political generations - Corbyn's been an MP for almost half a century, Sultana for only six years.

But they share a conviction that there is an energy on the left of British politics on which they can capitalise.

The pair are encouraging people to sign up to get involved in building "a real, democratic alternative rooted in communities up and down the country".

In their statement they say that the inaugural conference, expected in autumn, will determine the party's policies.

But their placement on the political spectrum is clear: to the left of the Labour Party on tax, nationalisation and immigration; and significantly more anti-Israel.

Their declared ambition is to "take on the rich and powerful – and win".

But at a general election even a fairly modest share of the vote could leave Labour at risk of losing quite a few seats, even if not directly to the new party.

Their first test may come sooner. The party now seems likely to be up and running in time for the local elections in May 2026, which include council elections in London and other cities which are likely to prove the most fertile territory for this party of anywhere.

Labour's internal vulnerability to its left flank was shown most recently by the prime minister's last minute U-turn on his welfare plans, eventually pushing through a gutted bill by just 75 votes, despite having a working majority of 165 MPs.

Rumours of a Corbyn-led party have been rumbling for months but Sultana appeared to have jumped the gun when she quit the Labour Party at the start of this month and announced she would be co-founding a new party with him.

Sultana was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party last year, along with six other MPs, when she voted against the government to back scrapping the two-child benefit cap.

Although four of those Labour MPs returned to the party, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell did not, although he has so far ruled out joining his former leadership partner.

The pair stood down following the 2019 general election defeat, and Corbyn was later suspended from the party he joined as a teenager by his successor Sir Keir Starmer.

However, Corbyn successfully stood as an independent candidate in the 2024 general election, and has since been coordinating a small group of four pro-Gaza independent MPs, who are expected to form the core of any new party.

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