Britain: Over 600,000 Sign up for New Left-Wing Party

Over 600,000 people have signed up in just a few days to support the formation of a new left-wing party in Britain, following the announcement of its launch by MPs Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn. Provisionally referred to as “Your Party,” the new political group says it aims to build power from the grassroots up in order to challenge – and defeat – Nigel Farage’s Reform UK as well as Labour under Keir Starmer’s leadership.

While speculation about a new political formation had circulated for months, the initiative geared up after Sultana declared her departure from Labour in the wake of the party’s campaign to designate direct action group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization. Before and after that vote, Labour repeatedly failed to act to halt the genocide in Palestine, despite widespread public outrage over Israel’s crimes.

At the same time, it has promoted austerity policies that either preserve or worsen poverty, all while echoing far-right rhetoric in a failed attempt to win over Reform voters. Corbyn recently reiterated his criticism of the Labour Party for endorsing the racist and xenophobic policies promoted by the right, warning that this will not have the effect Prime Minister Starmer is hoping for. “By scapegoating migrants and minorities for its own domestic failures, Labour has paved the path for Reform UK,” Corbyn wrote. “This Labour government is here to appease Reform. We are here to defeat Reform.”

Similarly, Sultana linked the launch of the new party to Labour’s internal efforts to silence dissent over austerity and solidarity with Palestine. “I could not knock on another door asking people to vote for the Labour Party when it is a genocide party, when it is an austerity party,” she told Novara Media. “To me, the Labour Party is dead: it’s dead morally, it’s dead politically, and it’s dead electorally.”

A broad project to return power to the people

In recent weeks, both Corbyn and Sultana have emphasized that the new party will be structured differently from establishment political parties in Britain, starting with the role of its members. Party democracy and participation, they stress, will be central, with members having a direct say in major decisions, including the party’s final name, leadership model, and electoral strategy – setting it apart from the top-down model of mainstream parties. The new formation also aims to build on existing grassroots and political organizing, encouraging supporters to take an active role in their communities.

Though the initiative has been met with sneers from Reform and skepticism from mainstream Labour, the scale of public support suggests it addresses widespread concerns and has genuine potential to offer a viable alternative to the current model. Labour, in particular, appears to be rattled, Sultana said, arguing that the claim a new left party would only split progressive votes rather than hurting Reform might reveal more about Labour’s concern for its own future than about meaningful change or broader political strategy.

Moreover, Corbyn and Sultana have reiterated that the new party is not just an electoral project, but a broader attempt to return power to the people. “The great dividers want you to think that the problems in our society are caused by migrants or refugees,” the party’s statement reads. “They’re not. They are caused by an economic system that protects the interests of corporations and billionaires. It is ordinary people who create the wealth – and it is ordinary people who have the power to put it back where it belongs.”

Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch