Socialism or barbarism: Is there hope for 2029?

By Lola Fallon

MP for Coventry South, Zarah Sultana, has officially resigned from the Labour Party in the hope of founding a new left-wing alliance with Jeremy Corbyn. Image: Getty Images

Coventry South MP, Zarah Sultana, has officially resigned from the Labour Party and

announced the launch of a new political party, which she will likely be co-running with Jeremy Corbyn. In a statement posted to her social media, she claims that "Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives" and used the decision to vote for the two-child benefit cap as well as abolishing winter fuel payments as part of her reasoning.

Sultana has also been a vocal critic of the government’s role in the genocide in Gaza. She frequently makes passionate statements in the Commons and on social media, where she condemns arms sales to Isreal and calls for an immediate ceasefire, and as of yet the government has remained largely silent in response to her demands. For Sultana, this means "in 2029, the choice will be stark: socialism or barbarism", and despite reports indicating that Corbyn was "furious" about the supposedly premature nature of Sultana's announcement, he quickly congratulated the Coventry South MP on her resignation and reaffirmed her statement that "real change is coming".

The reaction from voters on, and to, the left of the Labour Party, to the announcement of the Sultana-Corbyn alliance is clear: if Labour refuses to offer hope, others will.

This announcement has been met with mixed reviews. Since the statement was released, Sultana and Corbyn have been met with strong support from public figures such as Paloma Faith and Cat Burns as well as members of the public. Zack Polanski, who is running to be the leader of the Green Party, also showed his support on X, stating "Anyone who wants to take on the Tories, Reform and this failing Labour government is a friend of mine", yet he also reaffirmed the Greens as the only stable left-wing alternative to Labour. There are, however, concerns that the competition between the Greens and this new party will split the left-wing vote, allowing for an easier road to a Reform victory in 2029, with Lord Neil Kinnock dubbing the new party the "Farage assistance group", highlighting the danger that the creation of a new left-wing party poses in a 'first past the post' system, especially within a volatile political climate.

If they do not reconnect with the voters they have alienated, they risk losing power to Nigel Farage.

As expected, the press has largely not been kind to this announcement, as such the Telegraph have branded the creation of the new party "sinister" as an "Islamo-Leftist" alliance, using talking points designed to stir fear by painting progressive alliances as threatening or extreme. Strong criticism has also come from within Labour’s ranks, as David Taylor, the MP for Hemel Hempstead took to X to say, "good riddance" to Sultana’s exit, and called on others who voted against proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation to "follow suit".

Despite this backlash over 45,000 people have signed up as ‘actioners’ in support of this new party sending a message to the Labour Party that the abandonment of socialism and progressive roots will not be tolerated by many in its base. Indeed, Labour has no one to blame but themselves for Sultana’s departure and the creation of this new party. Since they were elected to power a year ago on a ‘loveless landslide’, they needed to prove to voters that they could deliver the ‘change’ that they promised. A year on, we have seen welfare cuts, the continuation of arms sales to Israel, as well as a speech on immigration that disturbingly echoed the words of Enoch Powell. These moves have ultimately disillusioned many previous voters, highlighted by a report from February found they had lost around one in ten members since winning the election.

The catastrophic defeat in the local elections and the support for this new party should be a wake-up call for Labour, who’s approval rating is currently 14%. If they do not reconnect with the voters they have alienated, they risk losing power to Nigel Farage. Their rise is no longer hypothetical; it is a terrifying possibility. Overall, the reaction from voters on, and to, the left of the Labour Party to the announcement of the Sultana-Corbyn alliance is clear: if Labour refuses to offer hope, others will.

Image: Getty Images