WESTMINSTER — Zarah Sultana has dramatically quit the Labour Party and announced she’s starting a new one — presumably after realising shouting “socialism or barbarism!” on Instagram wasn’t shifting policy.
The Coventry South MP, who spent most of her parliamentary career being suspended for saying the quiet part out loud, now says she’s teaming up with a rag-tag group of leftist independents — and possibly Jeremy Corbyn, if he’s still answering texts — to build a bold new political force, which will presumably operate out of a WhatsApp group and the back room of a bookshop.
Sultana says the new party will tackle the “broken” Westminster system, government cruelty, and Labour’s disappointing habit of existing. She cited everything from the Gaza conflict to the two-child benefit cap, to the general whiff of moral compromise drifting out of Starmer’s office.
“Our government is complicit in genocide,” she declared on social media — not bothering with nuance, caveats, or, some might argue, strategy.
Corbyn, meanwhile, has been flirting with launching a movement of his own, telling Peston that there’s a “thirst for an alternative,” although he stopped short of saying he was definitely in. Sources suggest he’s currently trying to remember where he put his party leader mug.
Back on Earth, Labour responded to Sultana’s exit with a politely pre-prepared brag-sheet, claiming they’ve spent the last year raising wages, cutting mortgage payments, and installing breakfast clubs like it’s 1997 again. The statement didn’t mention genocide, Jeremy Corbyn, or the phrase “socialism or barbarism,” which is probably for the best.
Sultana had been clinging on to Labour membership despite being suspended along with John McDonnell and several others for daring to vote like their principles mattered. Most of her fellow rebels have since apologised and rejoined the fold. Sultana, however, took the road less grovelled.
McDonnell posted a glowing farewell tribute online, asking why Labour had become so inhospitable to “young, articulate, talented socialists” — apparently unaware that the answer might be “because they keep calling the party genocidal on the internet.”
Corbyn’s still-mysterious indie alliance includes a handful of MPs who beat Labour candidates in Muslim-majority seats on a pro-Gaza platform. They haven’t quite formed a formal party yet, but they do agree on one thing: peace is better than war. And nothing says electoral momentum quite like that kind of bold, low-bar consensus.
At the time of writing, no name has been confirmed for the new party. Suggestions include “The Ghost of Momentum,” “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted Socialist,” or “The People’s Front of Westminster.”
About The Author
