By Megan Kenyon
At eight PM on Thursday evening, when most people in Westminster were likely stood, pint in hand, chatting at the pub, Zarah Sultana made a surprise announcement. Well, maybe not so surprise. The MP for Coventry South was among the seven Labour MPs to have the whip removed last year after voting to remove the two-child benefit cap. She, along with John McDonnell and Apsana Begum have yet to be reinstated (all four of their fellow rebels are now back in the party). But last night, Sultana made clear there would be no going back. At 8.11PM she posted a statement on X which confirmed she had resigned her membership of the Labour party and would soon co-lead a new left-wing party. Her co-leader, she said, was Jeremy Corbyn.
More than 12 hours after Sultana broke cover on politics worst kept secret, Corbyn has yet to confirm her news. Shortly after Sultana鈥檚 statement, reports began to emerge that Corbyn had not signed off on her announcement and was 鈥渇urious and bewildered鈥 at the way it had been handled. The timing of this is odd. Speaking on Wednesday evening, Corbyn told Robert Peston: 鈥淭here are independent groups all around the country鈥 there is a thirst for an alternative view to be put. I am working with all of those people. That grouping will come together鈥. That was the strongest hint Corbyn has given to date on the creation of a new, left-wing party.
When I asked Corbyn what this meant on Thursday morning, he told me: 鈥渢here is growing appetite for cooperation 鈥 and come the next election I am hopeful there will be a united voice for equality, sustainability and peace.鈥 (Though a source close to him added: 鈥渃ooperation鈥 and 鈥渦nited voice鈥 can mean many different things). That he has yet to speak out publicly on Sultana鈥檚 claims of movement, suggests he did not expect her announcement. A source close to Corbyn confirmed this, adding he 鈥渋sn鈥檛 pleased鈥. They said a new party, or movement was on the cards, but that Sultana had jumped the gun. Momentum sent an email out last night saying that they respectfully disagreed with Sultana鈥檚 exit from Labour.
There have been rumblings around a new party headed up by Corbyn and including the four 鈥楪aza Independents鈥 in the House of Commons for some time. In June, Pamela Fitzpatrick, the director of Corbyn鈥檚 Peace and Justice Project, registered a new party, 鈥淎rise鈥. Fitzpatrick recently made the case for a new left-wing party on a Novara Media podcast.
While we of course cannot be sure that this new registration has anything to do with the former Labour leader, the name of this new party is Corbyn-adjacent, emulating the refrain of the Masque of Anarchy, by Percy Shelly: 鈥淩ise like Lions after slumber鈥 ye are the many, they are the few.鈥 Possibly Fitzpatrick鈥檚 new registration was the vehicle in waiting.
One former member of Corbyn鈥檚 operation said on WhatsApp that while a new party was 鈥渄efinitely on the cards鈥, Sultana had 鈥渏umped the gun鈥 with her announcement. At the end of June, Andrew Murray, Corbyn鈥檚 former aide, suggested in the Morning Star that two options for a new party were being considered. One, 鈥楥ollective鈥, a new national party founded by Karie Murphy Corbyn鈥檚 former chief of staff would install Corbyn as an interim leader 鈥 despite Corbyn himself having reservations about this idea. The other, which does not yet have a name, would be a looser group, possibly with Sultana and Corbyn as figureheads.
There was clearly a miscommunication last night. A source close to Corbyn told me at the end of May that if Sultana expressed an interest in founding a new party, then the MP for Islington North would do it. To some, Sultana is seen as Corbyn鈥檚 heir, a younger, fresh-faced and popular leader-in waiting. But her recent movements have been somewhat erratic: one recent rumour suggested she had sacked most of her staff (Sultana has never confirmed or denied this). Some have speculated that she became impatient and tried to bounce Corbyn into it. Her potential co-leader certainly didn鈥檛 like that. This came on the eve of the return of his 10-minute rule bill calling for an independent inquiry into the UK鈥檚 involvement in Gaza back to parliament; a moment he had hoped to use to show up the government. This chaotic news has overshadowed his plans.
This looks messy. The launch of a new left-wing party following these two terrible weeks for the government could have been a powerful, and significant moment. As George Eaton reported last week, exclusive polling by More in Common for the New Statesman found that a potential new Corbyn led party would gain 10 per cent of the vote. Instead, its false-start launch has been met with mockery and disappointment (鈥渢hey couldn鈥檛 organise a piss up in a brewery鈥, one disgruntled Labour insider texts). Whatever happens next, Corbyn will need to make some form of statement today 鈥 and going by this long silence, he鈥檚 clearly not sure what he wants to say next.