Mr Corbyn said that the new group, a joint venture with former Labour MP Zarah Sultana, aims to “build a democratic movement that can take on the rich and powerful – and win”. But the announcement sparked confusion after it was unclear what the new party’s name would be. In his statement, Mr Corbyn, the independent MP for Islington North, urged backers to visit a website called yourparty.uk. But, in response to reports on the new party, Ms Sultana wrote on Twitter: “It’s not called Your Party!” Mr Corbyn later suggested it would be a holding name until the new name is decided in consultation with members. Asked what the new name would be, 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.” Ms Sultana had announced plans earlier this month to co-lead a new party alongside Mr Corbyn, taking aim at the Labour government for having “completely failed to improve people’s lives”. The announcement appeared to come as a surprise to Mr Corbyn, who initially failed to comment, sparking speculation he had not fully committed to joining. But speaking to reporters as he launched the party, the former Labour leader insisted he and Ms Sultana are “working absolutely together on this” – despite the fact she wasn’t present. Asked where she was, he said: “She happens to be, as far as I know at this moment, in Coventry. I was in touch with her just a few moments ago. So it’s all fine. We’re working very well together, all of us.” Unveiling more details on Thursday, Mr Corbyn said his party would tax the rich and invest in council houses. But the former Labour leader put his new movement’s top policy as the Middle East, saying it would support Palestine and be “made up of people of all faiths and none”. The pro-Gaza independent MPs who have allied with him unseated former Labour frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth and almost cost senior ministers Wes Streeting, Shabana Mahmood and Jess Phillips their seats. Mr Corbyn recently attended a rally with Leanne Mohamad, the pro-Gaza independent candidate who lost to Mr Streeting by a handful of votes last year in Ilford North and plans to run against the health secretary again. On Thursday, Mr Streeting reposted a tweet mocking the new party’s launch, suggesting its message was “Not Your Party”. Other Labour MPs also made fun of the apparent confusion over the new group’s name. Mike Reader, the MP for Northampton South, said: “Members will choose the name. I strongly recommend Votey McVote Face.” A Labour source said: “The electorate has twice given its verdict on a Jeremy Corbyn-led party.” Corbyn lost the 2017 and 2019 general elections as leader of Labour. Corbyn hit out at the government’s approach to the war in Gaza open image in gallery Corbyn hit out at the government’s approach to the war in Gaza (AFP/Getty) Others likely to join include Faiza Shaheen, who was deselected at the last minute by Labour for Chingford and Woodford Green but ran as an independent, preventing her former party from taking the seat off ex-Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith. Mr Corbyn said millions of people were “horrified by the government’s complicity in crimes against humanity” in supporting Israel. “Now, more than ever, we must defend the right to protest against genocide,” he wrote. “We believe in the radical idea that all human life has equal value. That is why we will keep demanding an end to all arms sales to Israel, and for the only path to peace: a free and independent Palestine.” He added that “great dividers” wanted the public to think the problems in our society are caused by “migrants or refugees”. “They’re not,” he wrote. “They are caused by an economic system that protects the interests of corporations and billionaires.” He added: “The system is rigged when 4.5 million children live in poverty in the sixth richest country in the world. The system is rigged when giant corporations make a fortune from rising bills. The system is rigged when this government says there is no money for the poor, but billions for war. We cannot accept these injustices – and neither should you.” Luke Tryl, from pollsters More in Common, said that when his organisation looked at the idea of a new Corbyn-led party last month, it “took 10 per cent of the vote, taking votes from Labour and the Greens." Neil Kinnock said the left-wingers would “only assist the enemies of Labour” by forming a breakaway challenger party. He said that division on the left “can only assist the parties of the right”, including Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Mr Corbyn led the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020 before being suspended following a row over a report into antisemitism in the party. He was expelled in 2024 and successfully contested the summer election as an Independent candidate. Ms Sultana had the Labour whip withdrawn after rebelling against the government to vote to scrap the two-child benefit cap. She resigned her Labour membership this year.
this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2025
45 points (100.0% liked)
World News
2704 readers
115 users here now
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
45
Jeremy Corbyn Confirms Plan to Create New Political Party with Zarah Sultana
(www.independent.co.uk)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Why sheep dog?
Corbyn is a social democrat he is not a communist. His purpose is to drive people who are disillusioned by bourgeois "democracy" back into the fold. He exists to diffuse revolutionary sentiment by offering reform. That's what sheepdogs do.
^This
Some may consider "sheepdog" as offensive but that aside this is the correct marxist take. You need revolution for even meaningful reforms to take place. If one doesn't understand the gravitas of why bourgoisie electoralism does not work then one does not understand marxism-leninsim and the science of how capital works. "Creating space" is idealist nonsense.
One is a marxist despite the likes of Sanders/AOC/Mamdani and even Corbyn, not "because" of them.
Back in Lenin's day they were criticising people who called themselves marxist and made attempts to contribute to marxism (in their own way) and they were rightly being called out for their reformist errors (Kautsky being a famous one). These days you have so called marxists capitulating to even socdems (Corbyn is at best a scandinavian style socdem with a big heart but capital does not care if you fail due to a skills issue).
Western Marxism is a disease.
Addendum- an example to bring this home. Corbyn was smeared due to his pro-palestenian stance partly because he staffed his staff with liberal zionists who ensured his downfall; he made significant political errors because he does not understand why (and I am being charitable here - his is in his 70s and doing this for decades - he should fucking know better, which then makes you question why he is like this) and what liberal zionism is, the categorical political sin of giving space for this, that the parliamentarian system is not in error of its ways but is designed to uphold imperialism, genocide and exploitation. He has no real political theory of change here. And yet you have boneheads defending him because he is a Nice Guy TM and puts most of other western politicans to shame which is a fucking low bar. Just keep doing the same thing over and over again for decades on end and sure its going to change anytime now with all this incremental privileged refomist feel-goodness...
Under his wing communists will be permitted to run though.
I agree he isnt perfect but hes as far left as electorism goes in the UK so il take a wide branch collation of communists, anarchists, social democrats and left leaning pro-palestine activists over what the fuck is happening in mainstream UK politics atm
Oh so he isn't just trying to soak up revolutionary votes he is also trying to co-op revolutionary candidates too? How is this a good thing?
Corbyn is anti-NATO
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/apr/20/jeremy-corbyn-would-like-to-see-nato-ultimately-disband
Also no revolutionary candidate or voter is currently voting for anyone, they are politically homeless - Corbyn also is unlikely to actually last very long, guys senile - the actual party will be decided by its makeup of MPs, who we dunno who will be yet.
Sheep dogs bark. They never do what they say. Corbyn was never really forced to put his money where his mouth was because he was never in power.
But he had a chance to stand up for his anti-zionist comrades and instead he threw them under the bus. He apologized for "anti-semitism" in the party when he knew god danm well that it was anti-zionism.
I’m going to have to disagree. This would be a fair assessment of parties like Reform UK or the Labour Party. Corbyn is a Social-Democrat, yes, but he is more Marxist-leaning than most Social-Democrats. My point being that left wing parliamentary action can be an effective way of spreading class consciousness; when Corbyn’s reforms ultimately fail, the working class will be disillusioned by bourgeois democracy even more, thus exciting; not diffusing revolutionary sentiment.
I partly agree with your assessment, social democratic work can be used to politicize a disillusioned population. However, I think if you don't have the right strategy in place, such as building dual power, the tactic can simply be wasted and not used towards a revolutionary goal.
This is true too.
Refom uk is not for straying sheep it is to round up the wolves. labour was the velvet glove to the torries mailed fist but it was still the hand of the bourgeoise and it stepped past its role by backing the banderites and zionists. now labour is indistinguishable from the torries and as they are both losing support they will bind together and will need a new controlled opposition.
"more marxist leaning" is still a bourgeois bootlicker. He isn't a revolutionary marxist he is a kautskyite.
No. Communist parliamentary participation can raise class consciousness. Social democrats use of socialist language disillusions people, often permanently. When they call themselves "Socialists" and their reforms fail it poisons the well for Real Socialists.
You aren’t entirely wrong in saying this, but what does, “round up the wolves” mean? Reform certainly has a lot of petty bourgeois/bourgeois backing, but a substantial amount of their backing comes from the working class. Their rhetoric reflects this appeal to the proletariat, as seen in the following excerpt:
Don’t put words in my mouth, I never claimed he was a revolutionary Marxist. Corbyn is no Mamdani, but nowhere near as bad as Sanders. He has good takes, and bad ones. Corbyn isn’t even all that relevant as the party will be a grassroots, down-up one; Communists and real socialists can and will take advantage of this in the upcoming party conferences to decide the party’s direction.
And where do they turn to? The worst that could happen is the acceleration of the turn to fascism, and then Socialism. More likely is that the masses realise that reform of any kind is not the answer to their problems. What happens in the aftermath of this situation depends on communist parties’ handling of it by guiding the masses towards revolution.
Edit: I wrote “top down” to describe the party instead of, “down-up”
Corbyn isnt Mamdani or even Sanders god forbid. But I still think he isnt likely going to be PM.
They dont have a party program yet. They might have a revolutionary position after the first conference. I think Corbyn’s base is quite radical
Exactly. That is why they need a sheep dog, to stop the voters from radicalizing. Corbyn is not a radical. He is a former Labour Party leader ffs. The new party will not be a revolutionary party and it will not threaten the dictatorship of the bourgeoise. He is making the party with another former labour MP.
You might as well be giving the benefit of doubt to Kautsky after 1919.
He was going into Palestine and sitting down and chatting with members of Hamas in 2010
Hot take: Being anti-genocide isn't radical.
I agree he isnt that radical honestly, within the overton window of the UK absolutely but in a political theory sense he isnt.
if its a truly democratic party, its program will reflect its base.
If Corbyn is to be believed, it will.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
This is pure idealism. When has that ever happened? This is just utopian dreaming.
You are asking me if there ever was a democratically organized Marxist party? I don’t see what is idealist about waiting to see what kind of party emerges.