Scathing rightwing coverage contains a revealing note of alarm: this is more than just a rebellion, and it’s gaining supporters fast
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ess than a month into its existence, Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s new leftwing party is already widely seen as a mess. Its leadership, its launch schedule and even its name: all have caused inconclusive, semi-public rows. The opportunity provided by political novelty appears to be being wasted.
For the many journalists and politicians who always see the left as incompetent and naive, the stop-start, seemingly uncoordinated first weeks of Your Party, as it may or may not eventually be named, have felt like a gift – a summer silly season story after months of grim political acrimony. “Thank Christ Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana are here to give us a laugh,” wrote Sebastian Murphy in the Daily Express. “Labour’s loopy Left have bravely broken free of Starmer’s stultification to bring us a political party that is easily the funniest thing since the anti-Brexit centrists Change UK.” Now largely forgotten, Change UK lasted 10 months after splitting from Labour in 2019.
For left-leaning Britons who’ve had enough of Labour’s rightward shifts and intolerance of dissent, and have been hoping for a viable alternative, the new party’s launch has been depressing. Why, in times which so obviously require a radical fightback, can’t the left agree a clear way forward? Why is it still so dependent on Corbyn, who after 42 years in parliament can hardly be presented as a fresh figure? And where are the nimble strategists that the immensely difficult task of establishing a successful leftwing party is going to need?
