Jeremy Corbyn: New Party, Old Face

On 24 July, Jeremy Corbyn announced the formation of a new left-wing party, which he provisionally dubbed ‘Your Party’, with the official name to be announced at its inaugural conference. The announcement was made in conjunction with Zarah Sultana, also formerly of the Labour Party.

Since then, the best part of a million people have been reported to have expressed an interest in the party. Alongside the rising popularity of Farage’s Reform UK, such a substantial interest expresses a widespread dissatisfaction with the two-party system, expressing in particular a feeling that neither of the larger parties truly have the solutions to the issues within the UK, nor do they represent the values they claim.

However, as promising as these statistics seem for the rise of Corbyn’s party, the most important indicator of the strength of Corbyn’s influence would be the percentage of the 700,000+ interested voters that actually translate to paid party memberships once the party is fully up and running. This is because this number simply reflects the number of people signing up for updates, or a mailing list, rather than accepted party affiliation. 

Yet, if a significant percentage of the interested voters do eventually join Corbyn’s party, this would be an unprecedented earthquake in British party politics. On the one hand, between November 2024 to July 2025, the paid members of the Conservative party dwindled from 131,680 to 123,000. On the other hand, the Labour party has an estimated paid membership level of 309,000 voters, though this occludes steep drops in membership given that Labour stopped regularly sharing data this May.

While ‘Your Party’ seems brimming with a momentum which establishment parties would kill for, this may make it much harder for the left at large to win seats in the local and general elections, as the introduction of altered but fundamentally left wing values are likely to cause a divide amongst left wing voters, meaning that the seats won will also be divided, consequently making it easier for the right wing parties to win a majority.

This feature of Britain’s first-past-the-post system and slanted media environment is especially important due to the disproportionate attention given to the right wing, especially Nigel Farage. Farage has appeared on Prime Minister’s Questions 39 times, in comparison to the mere 4 times that Corbyn has appeared on the flagship political program, despite the latter being leader of the opposition and the former only winning his first seat in last year’s election.

This imbalance highlights the extent to which media visibility continues to shape political legitimacy and influence. While right-wing populist voices are often elevated, left-wing perspectives – especially those proposing structural economic change – are routinely marginalised or scrutinised more aggressively. In this context, even if Corbyn’s new party manages to amass a significant number of members, the challenge will not lie only in electioneering, but also in gaining equitable access to public platforms that shape national conversations. 

At the heart of Corbyn’s new political project is a return to community and people-focused politics, where the party’s core policies revolve around structural transformation, particularly in how power is distributed. Central proposals include a redistribution of wealth through taxation on the top 1 percent, the renationalisation of public utilities such as energy, water and transport, and a £250 billion Green New Deal, focused on creating secure, unionised jobs in renewable industries. Crucially, Corbyn’s vision treats housing, healthcare, education and employment as rights rather than as commodities.

Ultimately, the new left movement seeks not only electoral gains, but a deeper political re-engagement at the grassroots level – a system rebuilt from the ground up, by and for the communities it serves.

Illustration by Will Allen/Europinion