Former Labour leader Corbyn hints at new left-wing party ahead of general election

Jeremy Corbyn has suggested that he could launch a new political party with fellow left-wing independent MPs in a bid to offer “an alternative” to Labour before the next general election, Anadolu reports.

Speaking on ITV, the former Labour leader confirmed that discussions were taking place among members of the Independent Alliance group of MPs, which he co-founded last year.

Asked directly whether the group was preparing to form a new party, Corbyn did not rule it out. “That grouping (of independents) will come together, there will be an alternative,” he said.

The Independent Alliance includes four other independent MPs – Shockat Adam (Leicester South), Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr), Adnan Hussain (Blackburn), and Iqbal Mohamed (Dewsbury and Batley) – all of whom defeated Labour candidates in recent by-elections, campaigning largely on the party’s stance on Gaza.

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The group now has the same number of MPs as Reform UK and the Democratic Unionist Party, each with five, and more than both the Green Party and Plaid Cymru, which have four MPs apiece.

Corbyn, who has sat as an independent since being suspended by Labour leader Keir Starmer in 2020, has long hinted at launching a new platform focused on socialist policies and pro-Palestinian campaigning.

The move could split the left-of-center vote and pose a challenge for Labour, which has shifted toward the political center under Starmer’s leadership.

Outlining the potential priorities of any new party, Corbyn said it would focus on “poverty, inequality and a foreign policy that’s based on peace rather than war.”

When asked if he would lead it, he said: “I’m here to work – I’m here to serve the people in the way I’ve always tried to do.”

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