When a new left party was chaotically launched back in July – and attracted 500,000 sign-ups within days – Labour was divided on its significance. Some senior sources spoke of an existential moment, warning that the likes of Wes Streeting, Shabana Mahmood and even Keir Starmer could lose their seats. Others invoked the People’s Front of Judea/Judean People’s Front and Logan Roy’s declaration in Succession: “You are not serious people.”
It is the latter group that has proved prescient. For months the tensions between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana have been clear: he was exasperated by her unilateral launch of the party and her later claim that he “capitulated” over the definition of anti-Semitism. But fissures exploded yesterday: Sultana launched a new paid membership system – with an email sent to the group’s 800,000-strong mailing list – only to be publicly rebuked by Corbyn and four fellow Independent Alliance MPs.
The internecine warfare resembles a more extreme version of the feuds that defined Corbyn’s Labour. Those close to Sultana say that an “anti-democratic faction” has been “working to exclude Zarah and reject her role in co-leading the party foundation process” (Karie Murphy, Corbyn’s former chief of staff, has been singled out for criticism by the MP). Your Party ripostes that Sultana has “not been excluded from any discussions” and has referred the “false membership system” to the Information Commissioner’s Office. In the view of one Labour MP: “Zarah, with the impetuous character that youth brings, has overplayed her hand against an intransigent Karie.”
Who wins from this farce? The most obvious answer is the Greens (who Labour strategists regarded as a more dangerous prospect). Back in June I revealed More in Common polling showing that a new left party would win 10 per cent of the vote. Under this scenario, the Greens’ support would have almost halved: from 9 per cent to 5 per cent. Now, under the avowed “eco-populist” Zack Polanski, they have confirmed themselves as the most viable option for left-wing opponents of Labour. Former Corbynites who joined the Greens and shunned Your Party are claiming vindication. “Everyone on the left should join the Greens, including Jeremy and Zarah,” declared the Labour leader’s former aide Matt Zarb-Cousin. “We’ve wasted 12 months already,” warned James Meadway, John McDonnell’s former economic adviser.
But Your Party’s implosion is also good news for Labour. The successful launch of a new left force would have further splintered the party’s already diminished vote (which now stands at just 20 per cent) and Corbyn could have more readily attracted trade union backers than the Greens. For Starmer, who faces daunting elections in May 2026, its failure will come as a relief. His opponents, too, can argue that Labour is still the place where the left’s future will be determined (Andy Burnham will address an event held by Mainstream, the new soft left group, on the Monday evening of Labour conference).
The Corbynites, meanwhile, who believe a generational opportunity was wasted at the 2019 general election, can only rue a succession of false starts.
This piece first appeared in the Morning Call newsletter; receive it every morning by subscribing on Substack here
[See also: Which is the political party of the posh?]
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