Jeremy Corbyn
Plenty of good comrades have approached me over the years suggesting that there needs to be a new political voice in this country.
After I was suspended as a member of the Parliamentary Labour Party, I remained as a Labour Party member and backbench MP, with support from many comrades locally who wanted to assert their democratic rights as local Labour Party members. Keir Starmer finally banned me from standing as a Labour candidate, which was a disgraceful assault on local democracy; my view was that the people should decide. That’s why I stood as an Independent candidate.
Winning an election as an Independent, before launching a party, I think will prove historically significant. I felt that winning in Islington North was important, not just for our community but people beyond it. Setting up a new party beforehand, at relatively short notice, would have likely meant me traveling up and down the country, which would have had a significant cost to our campaign locally.
It was during the election campaign that it became more obvious why, in the near future, there would need to be a new voice. I was taken aback by the number of people who I’d never met before, from around the country, many of whom had not been involved in politics, who suddenly wanted to be part of our campaign. That, to me, was indicative of the level of support out there for a real political alternative.
Since the election, the calls for a new political party have become louder and more widespread. I’ve had lots of discussions with a lot of people, and it has become increasingly clear why a new party is not just possible but fundamentally necessary.
Let’s be clear: Labour has completely and utterly failed to bring about the change it promised — whether that’s its refusal to scrap the two-child benefit cap, the removal of disability benefits, the betrayal of the WASPI women, the winter fuel cuts, or its atrocious complicity in the slaughter of Palestinians.
And right now, we face a situation where Labour is paving the path to a Reform government. We are at a critical juncture in British politics — and so that’s why we’ve decided to launch a new political party. If we want to live in a society of equality, inclusion, and peace, not inequality, division, and war, then we need to make the case for an alternative.