Ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed plans to create a new hard-left party following Zarah Sultana's announcement last night that she will be quitting Keir Starmer's party.
In a statement on Friday - the first anniversary of Labour's election win - Corbyn congratulated Sultana "on her principled decision to leave" the party.
"I am delighted that she will help us build a real alternative," he added as he vowed "real change is coming".
Corbyn, who resigned as Labour leader following his 2019 electoral blowout to Boris Johnson's Conservatives, was barred from standing for the party by Sir Keir Starmer last year as the future PM moved to purge the Labour left.
Suspended Labour MP Zarah Sultana (right) announced her resignation from the party on Thursday evening
GETTYAnd last night, reports emerged that Corbyn had not agreed to co-lead a new movement with Sultana.
Corbyn was left "furious and bewildered" at how it was launched without consultation, according to The Times.
The ex-Labour duo's move to found a new party with other independent MPs comes just days after landmark polling revealed a new Corbyn-led bloc would siphon support from both Labour and the Greens at a General Election.
Fresh data from More In Common revealed that such a party would take in 10 per cent of the vote.
MORE ON THE HARD-LEFT:
A Jeremy Corbyn-led party would take in 10 per cent of the vote, according to More In Common
GB NEWS
Labour's support would sink by three percentage points, the Greens' by four, and the SNP's by three as a result.
But in a boon to Reform UK, Nigel Farage's party would increase its polling lead by three points at the same time.
In total, Reform, the Tories and Liberal Democrats would remain unaffected by the new hard-left grouping.
Corbyn's statement today reads: "Real change is coming.
"One year on from the election, this Labour Government has refused to deliver the change people expected and deserved.
Nigel Farage's party would increase its polling lead by three points if Jeremy Corbyn's party contested a General Election
GETTY"Poverty, inequality and war are not inevitable. Our country needs to change direction, now.
"Congratulations to Zarah Sultana on her principled decision to leave the Labour Party. I am delighted that she will help us build a real alternative.
"The democratic foundations of a new kind of political party will soon take shape. Discussions are ongoing - and I am excited to work alongside all communities to fight for the future people deserve.
"Together, we can create something that is desperately missing from our broken political system: hope."
Most Read
