The ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana has declared that she is resigning from the party, and will be founding a new party with her former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Amid rising criticism against the Prime Minister within the ruling Labour party, the former Labour chief, Jeremy Corbyn, made plans to found a new political party with Zarah Sultana. Zarah Sultana would be joining Jeremy Corbyn’s new party as a co-lead in founding the new party.
Zarah Sultana has announced this on her socials and wrote that Jeremy Corbyn and she will co-lead the founding of a new party with other independent MPS, including activists and campaigners across the country.
Ms Sultana also said that she is quitting the party after 14 years. She was suspended shortly after they came to power last summer. She was suspended due to voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.
Numerous members were also suspended for voting against the government, but remained as independent MPs.
Ms Sultana urged people to join her in the foundation of a new party.
The MP for Coventry South said,” Join us. Time is now”.
The BBC has contacted Corbyn but not yet confirmed his involvement with the new party.
Last night, Corbyn hinted he might form a new party, saying, “There is a thirst for an alternative”.
Ms Sultana, in a social post, said the government is an active participant in genocide in Gaza. Also, she highlighted that the growing poverty, the government’s position on welfare, and the cost of living are the reasons behind the setting up of her new party.
Mr Corbyn told ITV that independent MPs should come together to construct a new alternative party, which will be about a society that would be concerned about poverty, inequality, and a foreign policy based on peace, not war.
Four independents are Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Adnan Hussain, and Ayoub Khan.
The other four independents and Mr Corbyn have not declared whether they are part of the new party that Ms Sultana announced.
Ms Sultana declared that she would again vote to repeal the two-child benefit cap and also voted against removing the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.
This week, Ms Sultana also voted against the government’s welfare bill. On Wednesday, Ms Sultana passionately spoke against the Palestine Action being banned as a terror organisation; however, the MPs have voted for it to be put into the law.
Sultana was elected as a Labour MP in the 2024 general election. However, she was suspended for a long after, and since then she has been sitting in the Commons as an independent.
Despite her suspension, Ms Sultana remained a member of the Labour Party.