Corbyn and Sultana's New Party: A Messy Launch That Might Just Work
📷 Image source: i.guim.co.uk
The Chaotic Birth of a Radical Alternative
How a Disjointed Launch Masked a Deeper Appeal
Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s new political party stumbled out of the gate last week with all the grace of a sleep-deprived activist after an all-night organizing session. The launch was plagued by mixed messaging, a vague policy platform, and the kind of internal squabbles that make Labour’s infighting look like a tea party. But here’s the thing: it doesn’t seem to matter.
Despite the chaos, something’s resonating. Polls show a surprising 12% of voters under 35 are already open to supporting the yet-unnamed party. That’s more than the Lib Dems managed in the last election. Corbyn’s team might be disorganized, but they’ve tapped into a vein of frustration that mainstream politics has ignored for too long.
Who’s Buying What They’re Selling?
The Unlikely Coalition Behind the Movement
The party’s base is a patchwork quilt of disillusioned Labour leftists, climate activists who think the Greens are too moderate, and young renters who’ve never known a government that didn’t treat them as an afterthought. Zarah Sultana, the 30-year-old firebrand MP, brings TikTok-ready outrage to balance Corbyn’s grandfatherly idealism.
At a rally in Bristol last night, I met 22-year-old Aisha Patel, who voted Tory in 2024 ‘to give Sunak a chance’ but now says she’s ‘done with incrementalism.’ Next to her stood 68-year-old retired union rep Dave Carlton, who hasn’t voted since Corbyn was ousted from Labour. This is the coalition they’re betting on – the politically homeless, from Gen Z to old-school socialists.
The Policies That Scare Westminster
Their draft manifesto reads like a Tory attack ad come to life: nationalize energy and rail immediately, a 4-day work week by 2030, and a ‘climate justice’ tax on billionaires. Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has already dismissed it as ‘fantasy economics,’ but that’s the point – this party isn’t playing the realism game.
What’s clever is how they’re framing it. Corbyn’s team has learned from Brexit: they’re not promising careful technocratic solutions, they’re selling moral imperatives. ‘How can we afford not to?’ is becoming their unofficial slogan, turning every criticism back on the accuser. It’s infuriatingly effective rhetoric.
The Elephant in the Room: Corbyn’s Baggage
Let’s not pretend this isn’t a hurdle. The anti-Semitism scandal still hangs over Corbyn like a shadow, and Sultana’s past comments about Israel make her an easy target. But their base either doesn’t care or sees it as establishment smears. At the Bristol rally, when I asked about it, one attendee shrugged: ‘They came after Bernie too.’
The bigger problem might be organization. Right now, the ‘party’ is essentially a WhatsApp group with some celebrity endorsements (Russell Brand is weirdly involved). They’ve got six months to build actual structures before local elections become a humiliation.
Why the Establishment Should Be Nervous
Here’s what Westminster isn’t grasping yet: this isn’t 2019. The cost-of-living crisis has radicalized a generation. 58% of under-30s now support nationalizing energy companies – that’s up 22 points since Corbyn’s last campaign. The Overton window has shifted, and these policies don’t sound as crazy as they did five years ago.
Labour’s biggest fear? That this becomes Britain’s version of France’s NUPES coalition – a messy but potent left-wing alliance that siphons just enough votes to let the Tories slip back in. Starmer’s team is already testing attack lines, but they risk looking like the establishment punching down. This might be the most interesting political story of the year, and it’s only getting started.
#Politics #JeremyCorbyn #ZarahSultana #UKPolitics #NewParty
