Former Labour MP Zarah Sultana has revealed she is resigning from the party after 14 years, and will be starting a new political party with her former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Zarah was stripped the Labour whip last year for backing a move to get rid of the two-child benefit cap. Zarah, who served as the MP for Coventry South, said the new party would be formed with other independent MPs and activists, with the aim of challenging a 'broken' Westminster system.
Along with Zarah, other MPs to be suspended from the Labour Party last year included the former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, and former leadership candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey. Despite her suspension, Zarah remained a member of the Labour Party.
Speaking on the Radio 4 Today programme after she was ousted, Zarah said: 'I’m not interested in playing up to this macho virility test that seems to be what people are talking about. It’s about the material conditions of 330,000 children living in poverty. This isn’t a game. This is about people’s lives.'
Zarah made headlines when she became the youngest members of parliament when she was elected in 2019. She has amassed a large social media following over her career, but sadly this has also led to her to be the target of online trolls. In 2023, Zarah was subject to the most abuse of any MP in 2023, 68 per cent more than the next.
In an interview with Elle last year, Zarah said: 'I’m a woman, I’m young, I’m Muslim, I’m left wing. When people attack me, it’s usually for one – or all – of those reasons.'
What is the new political party Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn are forming?
There isn't a name for the new political party yet, but Zarah wants to offer a left-wing alternative of the Labour Party today. The group doesn't have any clear polices yet, but in a statement released on social media, Zarah outlined where the priorities of the party could lie.
In the statement announcing her resignation, Zara wrote 'Jeremy Corbyn and I will co-lead the founding of a new party, with other independent MPs, campaigners and activists across the country.'
She continued by saying that 'Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper' and the 'two-party system offers nothing but managed decline and broken promises.'
She added: 'A year ago I was suspended by the Labour Party for voting to abolish the two-child benefit cap and list 400,000 children out of poverty. I’d do it again. I voted against scrapping winter fuel payments for pensioners. I’d do it again. Now, the Government wants to make disabled people suffer; they just can’t decide how much.'
She also touched on foreign politics, saying accusing the government of being an 'active participant in genocide' - with reports suggesting the new party could have a strong emphasis on supporting Palestine. At the end of the statement, she urged her followers to 'join us.'
Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed his involvement with Zarah's party to the BBC, but also hinted that he may form a new party altogether. In an interview with ITV on Wednesday, Corbyn said that independent MPs would 'come together' to provide an 'alternative' party which will be about 'a society that deals with poverty, inequality and a foreign policy based on peace not war.' The other four independents are: Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain.
Alice Hall is the Staff Writer at Grazia UK. She was previously a Junior Features Writer for The Daily Telegraph. At Grazia, she writes news and features about pop culture, dating, health, politics and interiors.