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Former Labour MP Zarah Sultana has said she plans to launch a new party with Jeremy Corbyn, saying that Sir Keir Starmer’s government had “failed” voters during its first year in office.
Sultana said in a social media post late on Thursday: “Jeremy Corbyn and I will co-lead the founding of a new party, with other independent MPs, campaigners and activists across the country.”
However, an ally of Corbyn, who led the Labour party between 2015 and 2020, said he was frustrated Sultana had made the announcement without consulting him first.
“Zarah has really overplayed her hand,” according to an ally of Corbyn, adding that “she jumped the gun to get the data and the donations”.
Corbyn had the party whip removed in November 2020 after a damning official report into antisemitism in the Labour party. He was re-elected as an independent MP at last year’s general election.
Corbyn did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sultana’s announcement.
Sultana was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour party last year for voting against the government’s welfare policies.
In the post announcing her plans, Sultana said: “Poverty is growing, inequality is obscene and the two-party system offers nothing but managed decline and broken promises.”
Despite the apparently botched launch, the threat of a new party underlines the risks to Starmer from those on the left seeking to capitalise on anger and disenchantment with the government.
