MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces new party with Jeremy Corbyn - but he says 'discussions ongoing'

An MP who was ousted from the Labour Party announced she is setting up a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn - but he has said in a statement that "discussions are ongoing".

Independent MP Zarah Sultana said last night that she and the former Labour leader will co-lead the founding of this new party, and added that other independent MPs, campaigners and activists from across the country will join them, but did not name anyone.

She also said she was "resigning" from Labour after 14 years, and the former leader congratulated her on the "principled decision", and said: "I am delighted that she will help us build a real alternative."

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Mr Corbyn was sharply critical of Sir Keir Starmer's government for having "refused to deliver the change people expected and deserved", and that "the democratic foundations of a new kind of political party will soon take shape".

But he did not confirm that he and Ms Sultana will jointly lead the founding of this new venture, saying: "I am excited to work alongside all communities to fight for the future people deserve.

"Together, we can create something that is desperately missing from our broken political system: hope."

Iqbal Mohamed, who is part of Mr Corbyn's alliance of independent MPs, hinted that he will be part of this new endeavour by sharing the statement on X and writing: "Real change is coming."

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Corbyn's former adviser James Schneider said his phone had been "exploding with people being extremely excited" about a "home for progressive politics in this country".

Who are Corbyn and Sultana?

Ms Sultana was suspended as a Labour MP shortly after they came to power last summer for voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.

Several others from the left of the party were also suspended for voting against the government, and also remained as independent MPs.

Mr Corbyn was suspended as a Labour MP in October 2020 after a report was published by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission into antisemitism in the Labour Party found it was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination.

In response to the findings, Mr Corbyn said that "one antisemite is one too many", but added that "the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons".

He was then expelled from the party in May 2024 for standing as an independent in the general election in July, having been blocked from standing as a Labour candidate.

'Westminster is broken'

The pair have been close political allies in recent years, and have been very vocal in supporting the pro-Palestine movement.

On Wednesday, Ms Sultana spoke passionately against Palestine Action being proscribed as a terror organisation - but MPs eventually voted for it to be put into law.

She said to proscribe it is "a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth".

The MP also shouted: "We are all Palestine Action."

In her statement last night, Ms Sultana said: "Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.

"But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it. We are not going to take this anymore."

Ms Sultana said they were founding the new party because "Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper - just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population".

She called Reform leader Nigel Farage "a billionaire-backed grifter" leading the polls "because Labour has completely failed to improve people's lives".

The MP signed the letter off with: "In 2029, the choice will be stark: socialism or barbarism.

Andrew Fisher, former head of policy for Mr Corbyn, told Sky's Barbara Serra: "If Labour keeps moving to the left on issues like migration and attacking welfare, there will be support for this."

'Only Labour can deliver change'

Speaking to Sky News, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Ms Sultana has "always taken a very different view to most people in the government on a lot of different things".

"We're one year on from the Labour government being elected and as the prime minister said a year ago that change doesn't happen at the flick of a switch, but it starts straightaway," the home secretary said.

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A Labour Party spokesperson said: "In just 12 months, this Labour government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions.

"Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain."

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