Zarah Sultana delivered a fiery speech to a rapturous response from hundreds of people at a Sheffield Trades Union Council meeting. Sultana received several standing ovations from the crowd, and appeared overcome at the support from Sheffield. Given the tumult from Your Party over the past week or so, it’s hardly a surprise that the first thing Sultana told an expectant crowd was:

I have to address what has happened over the past few days. And I know that a lot of people are feeling demoralised, but the fact that you showed up today tells me that we can still do this. I also share that feeling, feeling demoralised, feeling upset, feeling quite angry, and I want to be absolutely clear, my motivation, as always and will always, be to put the grassroots of our communities, our trade unions and our social movements first before anyone else

She also apologised for her role in the chaos:

Democracy is not something we can compromise on. It’s not something that you can redo once the train has left the station. I think it’s something that we have to fight hard for, and this is to build the Socialist Party that we all desperately need. And so the past few days have been truly regrettable, and I do want to say sorry for the part that I have played in that.

Listen to her full speech:

https://www.thecanary.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AUD-20250925-WA0002-AudioTrimmer.com_.mp3
Zarah Sultana speaks out

Zarah Sultana evidently understands the urgency of the current moment:

I am under no illusions about the threats we will face. Fascism is growling at the door. The stakes are simply too high for us to fail, and so me and Jeremy are both fully committed to making this political party, this left-wing socialist party, succeed, and of course, the conference will go ahead in November, as agreed.

Much of the frustration and confusion around Your Party membership has understandably coalesced around the rising fascism, racism, and transphobia which requires immediate resistance. This was not lost on Sultana as she told the crowd:

As everyone in this room knows far too well, we live in very difficult times, the challenges we face are vast climate breakdown, falling living standards, a housing crisis, collapsing public services, the rise of the far right, and a Labour government that’s not only complicit, but a Labour government that is actively participating in the genocide of the Palestinian people.

And, she made it clear that the establishment – both mainstream media and career politicians – are frightened by the influence Jeremy Corbyn has been able to have:

The establishment notice and that’s why they came for Jeremy as hard as they did in 2015. His election terrified them because it showed that millions of us who were inspired, who went to rallies, who organised and door knocked, that we were going to reject austerity and we were going to fight for real alternatives.

That was what scared the living shit out of them, and those are the lessons that we need to learn…people have said this to me, and I’m sure you’ve heard it as well, ‘you’re splitting the left.’ It’s the Labor Party that have split the left!

Normalisation of the far right

The crowd led several chants of “free Palestine” throughout the evening. Zarah Sultana captured the mood when she said:

We’ve been told there is no money for housing, for healthcare, for universal free school meals, but there’s always money for war. There’s always money for bailing out the banks and there’s always money for tax giveaways for the rich. Why is there always money for war, but never for the poor? And that’s what we’re fighting for. We see increases in military budgets, and we’re saying, fuck that.

Redirect that to making sure that no one goes hungry, no one is homeless, and that we had an NHS that is able to serve the needs of the people, that’s where funding should be going, not towards endless war.

She said:

Your Party recognises that power is in our communities, in our trade unions, in our social movements, in our private movement, and in the fight for Palestinian Liberation. And let me say proudly that Your Party will be an anti-Zionist party.

Moreover, Sultana was frank about the racism rampaging through the country:

We see the consequences of the normalisation of far right politics. We see an emboldened fascism in our country, fascist marches in London, the largest fascist demonstration we have seen in decades. We’ve seen racist attacks in our towns and cities. We’ve seen children and women attacked because of the colour of their skin. And you can’t just say this is because of reform the mainstream media in this country a lot of it is actually client journalism and this Labour government are wholly complicit.

And, she also cemented Your Party as one that must resist transphobia:

Trans right are human rights, and we will always centre the most marginalised in the heart of what we do. That is uncompromisingly going to be the case. No ifs, no buts. This isn’t a project for the elite. It’s not a project for the privileged in our society, but it is a project for the grassroots, because the grassroots are what are going to make this party democratic, and MPs must be accountable to them, not the other way around.

Responsibility to organise

Zarah Sultana also made the point that Your Party doesn’t have to win hearts and minds:

Over 800,000 people initially expressed an interest in your party, and public opinion is also with us when it comes to genocide, when it comes to re-nationalisation, when it comes to workers rights, and properly funding our services. We don’t have to win the arguments on these issues. People are already with us, but we need to get them involved.

She was careful to emphasise that division would only end in failure:

What we need is a united movement. We are strong, united. We will win…It will be built. It will take patience. It will take courage. It will take vision. It will take the understanding to believe and recognise that ordinary people can run society better than millionaires, better than profiteers, better than most of our politicians and the war criminals who are ruling our country today.

The ruling class want us divided, but history shows that when we come together, we can win. And now the responsibility is on our support…That is a responsibility I take very seriously.

At this point of the formation of Your Party, and certainly before the conference, there is little would-be supporters can do in terms of ensuring that the stewards of the party imbue its tender formation with the socialist politics many long for. However, it is undoubtable that Sultana has the vision, politics, and insight that we so desperately need to combat complicity in genocide and a rise in the far right.

She is just as impressive and warm in public, whether speaking to a crowd of 500, or to a group of three. And, her steadfast support of Corbyn leaves her well-placed to learn the lessons of an establishment committed to dismantling socialism in any guise. Whatever the future of Your Party, Sultana is undeniably a galvanising force whose integrity shines through.

And, she managed several times throughout the evening to insert robust messages of hope when many are, rightly, despairing. She said:

I would like to end with a quote from Arundhati Roy, who says, “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”

Featured image via the Canary