Zarah Sultana MP quits Labour to set up new party with Jeremy Corbyn

Left wing MP Zarah Sultana has resigned from Labour and will form a new party with Jeremy Corbyn.

In a statement on X, the MP for Coventry South said she was quitting the party after 14 years because of Sir Keir Starmer’s position on welfare and the war in Gaza.

She also took a swipe at Nigel Farage, whose Reform party are leading the polls, accusing him of being “backed by billionaires”.

Former Labour leader Corbyn gave a hint earlier this week that he and other independent MPs were considering creating a new left-wing party because of the Starmer government’s position on welfare and the Middle East.

It is not yet known what the new party will be called but Sultana has set up a website to raise money for the organisation.

The resignation comes following a turbulent few days for the Prime Minister and his government over the gutting of the welfare bill and the tearful appearance of Chancellor Rachel Reeves at PMQs on Wednesday.

Considering that Sultana was suspended from the Labour whip last year after she voted to abolish the two-child benefit cap, it is unlikely that Starmer will feel politically damaged by her resignation.

On Wednesday, she was one of 26 MPs who voted against moves to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group.

In her statement, Sultana wrote: “Jeremy Corbyn and I will co-lead the founding of a new party, with other independent MPs, campaigners and activists across the country.

“Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper. Just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population.

“Poverty is growing, inequality is obscene and the two-party system offers nothing but managed decline and broken promises.

“Now the government wants to make disabled people suffer, they just can’t decide how much.

“Meanwhile a billionaire-backed grifter is leading the polls, because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives.

“And 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.”

Paraphrasing the Marxist revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg, Sultana added: “In 2029, the choice will be stark: socialism or barbarism.”

The Labour Party was contacted for comment.