The Case for a New Left Party in Britain
Why Corbyn, Sultana, and a Working-Class Coalition Could Disarm Reform UK and Reclaim Political Power
News has recently emerged that Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana may be working together to launch a new left-wing political party in the UK. Predictably, this has sparked two immediate reactions: first, a wave of hope from those disillusioned with Starmer’s hollowed-out Labour Party; second, panic about splitting the so-called “progressive vote” and accidentally handing power to Reform UK.
It’s a fair concern, but one that needs serious unpacking. Because if we look at the material reality of who votes, how the electorate is changing, and where the working class actually stands in all this, it becomes clear that the potential rise of a new left-wing party isn’t a gift to the right. It’s the exact intervention we need — if it’s done right.
The Myth of the “Left Split” — Who’s Actually Voting for Whom?
First, let’s tackle the scarecrow that always gets thrown up when new left projects emerge: the “split vote.” People imagine a scenario where Labour loses by 2% in a marginal seat because of a Corbyn-backed candidate. But that assumes Labour still represents a left-wing project and that voters have nowhere else to go but right-wing reactionaries if they lose faith in it.
Here’s what the actual data tells us: most left-leaning voters in the UK especially among the youth and millennials have already been politically homeless for years. They vote Green, stay home, or spoil their ballots. According to long-term polling data from political scientists at Royal Holloway and Nottingham Trent, around 57–59% of voters under 45 lean toward Labour and the Greens. Meanwhile, only 17–24% of younger voters lean right (Tories and Reform).
The generational divide is real and widening. Reform UK’s base isn’t made up of a growing populist wave. It’s made up of Boomers. Voters aged 65+ make up 39% of Reform’s supporters. Another 38% are 45–64. The vast majority of their base is literally aging out of the electorate, and many younger people supporting them are doing so out of alienation, not ideological loyalty.
Which brings us to the real point…
Reform UK’s “Surge” Is Demographic Dust
You’ll hear a lot about Reform UK’s rise in the polls 31–34% in some surveys, overtaking both Labour and the Conservatives. Sounds scary, right? But look closer. Who makes up those numbers?
39% of Reform’s support comes from people aged 65+, a demographic that is declining with every passing year.
Only 23% of their support is aged 25–44 and virtually none are under 25.
Meanwhile, millennials and Gen Z the most progressive generations are growing in size and political engagement.
In plain terms: Reform UK is riding the last gasp of the Brexit generation. The same voters who handed us austerity, mass privatisation, and reactionary nationalism are now latching onto Reform as a final stand against a society they no longer recognise. But this isn’t a rising tide. It’s demographic entropy.
The electorate is shifting. Boomers are being replaced by younger voters who are angry about rent, wages, climate collapse, privatisation, and endless war. That’s not a right-wing wave. That’s fertile ground for a left movement if someone’s willing to reach them.
This Is Where Corbyn and Sultana Come In
A Corbyn-Sultana-led party isn’t a distraction — it’s a lifeline.
Look at the data on who Reform UK is appealing to among the youth. It’s not the right-wing middle class. It’s young working-class men who feel completely shut out of opportunity. The exact quote from one supporter sums it up:
“I was told if I get good A-levels, go to a good university, I could have a family and buy a house. I followed the rules and I’m nowhere near that promise.”
That’s not a call for “culture war” nonsense. That’s the raw material of class betrayal. These are the very people a real left movement should be reaching, not abandoning to Farage-style populism.
And the numbers back this up. If all millennials (aged 25–34) backed Corbyn’s new party, they’d account for 13.6% of the total UK vote share. Compare that to Reform UK’s Boomer base (39% of Reform’s support comes from Boomers, who make up 19% of the population, that’s 7.4% of the national vote). That’s nearly double the share for Corbyn’s party, and that’s just one age bracket.
The question isn’t whether the left will split. The real question is: will anyone actually mobilise the millions of disillusioned people who currently see no political home? Labour won’t do it. The Greens are still too marginalised. Only a bold new movement with credibility, leadership, and a clear class-based agenda can break the cycle.
And About the “Coalition Problem”…
Yes, multiple parties make elections more complicated under First Past the Post. But that’s not a death sentence — it’s a strategic opportunity. An alliance between Corbyn’s new party and the Greens is both a widely discussed prospect and one that could significantly reduce the risk of splitting the left/progressive vote, which is a major concern under First Past the Post (FPTP).
Both Corbyn and his allies are emphasizing the need for cooperation across the left, with local and regional autonomy and collaboration with other left-wing groups, including the Greens, seen as essential to success. Green leadership figures, such as Zack Polanski, have welcomed the idea of working together, stating:
“Anyone who wants to take on the Tories, Reform and this failing Labour government is a friend of mine.”
This signals a willingness from the Greens for a cooperative approach.
Political analysts suggest that Corbyn and the Greens could agree on an electoral pact to avoid standing against each other in key seats, maximizing the chances of left/progressive candidates winning and minimizing vote splitting. Polls show that a Corbyn-led party would draw significant support from young voters and could reach 10% nationally, but it would primarily take votes from Labour and the Greens. Without cooperation, this risks letting right-wing parties win on split left votes.
Just as Labour may seek a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, and the Tories with Reform, there’s no reason a Corbyn-led party and the Greens can’t do the same. In fact, a left electoral pact based on a shared platform of public ownership, economic justice, climate action, and migrant rights could create a credible alternative to Starmer’s triangulation and Farage’s grifting.
If done well, a Left-Green coalition wouldn’t split the vote it would galvanise it. It would give meaning to abstainers. It would give hope to the betrayed. And it would force Labour to either change course or become irrelevant.
What’s at Stake Isn’t Just an Election — It’s Class Power
At the end of the day, this isn’t just about numbers or polling. It’s about power. Reform UK may posture as a revolt against elites, but they offer no structural critique. They don’t challenge landlords, capitalists, arms dealers, or fossil fuel interests. They redirect working-class anger at immigrants, trans people, and the poor not the billionaires bleeding the country dry.
A new left party has to do the opposite. It must shine a light on the real superstructure i.e. the financialised, neoliberal system that has turned everything from housing to healthcare into profit machines. It must expose the complicity of both Labour and the Conservatives in maintaining this regime. And it must offer a different vision — not just moral, but material.
The working class in Britain has been sold out for generations by both parties. If Corbyn and Sultana can bring forward a movement rooted in class struggle, economic democracy, and international solidarity, it won’t just challenge Reform UK, it will dismantle the very foundation that gives Reform UK any appeal in the first place.
That’s not vote splitting. That’s revolution — at the ballot box.
What is to be Done? A Strategic Summary for the British Left
The analysis above reveals a fundamental truth: the rise of Reform UK, the collapse of trust in Labour, and the growing disillusionment of Britain’s working class are not isolated events. They are the predictable outcomes of a political system captured by neoliberal hegemony, a system that has erased class politics and replaced it with culture war theatre and capitalist realism.
If a new left movement led by Corbyn, Sultana, or anyone else with credibility and integrity is to have a chance at rebuilding class consciousness and winning power, then several concrete steps must be taken. Here's what is to be done:
1. Build a Party Rooted in Class, Not Culture
Stop letting the right define the agenda. A Corbyn-led party must reject the trap of “culture war” distractions and centre its message on wages, housing, public ownership, rent control, energy bills, transport, healthcare, and democratic workplace rights. The working class is multi-racial, multi-faith, and multi-gendered, but it is united in being exploited. That must be the organising principle.
2. Forge a Left Electoral Pact
A new left party must not isolate itself. It must actively seek a broad, working-class coalition with the Greens, trade union-backed independents, and even dissident Labour councillors. This coalition should agree not to compete in target constituencies and should coordinate messaging and media. This isn't about "unity" in the abstract, it’s about strategic cooperation to break First Past the Post.
3. Mobilise the Disenfranchised Majority
Polling shows millions of non-voters, first-time voters, and youth have no faith in the political system. A new left party must organise locally: in housing estates, campuses, picket lines, food banks, digital platforms and the poorest segments of society. Don’t chase swing voters in the suburbs, mobilise the underclass that neoliberalism abandoned.
4. Politicise the Betrayals of Starmer’s Labour
Labour under Starmer is not just passive, it is complicit in maintaining Thatcherite economic structures. A new movement must unapologetically expose Labour’s abandonment of nationalisation, its hostility to trade unions, and its refusal to challenge capital. The goal is not to “win back” Labour, but to offer something better.
5. Counter the Rise of Reform UK at the Root
Reform UK is not winning because it has solutions. It’s winning because no one else is speaking to alienated, working-class people in small towns and left-behind regions. A Corbynite movement must speak directly to those constituencies especially disenfranchised young men and make clear that the true enemy is not immigrants, but landlords, billionaires, war profiteers, and corporate monopolists.
6. Challenge the Superstructure of Neoliberalism
This is not just a political fight. It is a cultural and ideological one. The new left must develop its own media channels, create content for TikTok and YouTube, publish articles and explainer videos, hold teach-ins, and revive political education. Without reclaiming the narrative, the left will always play defence.
7. Prepare for Power — Not Just Protest
Movements that win have policy, infrastructure, discipline, and a path to implementation. The new left must prepare a transitional programme of demands:
Repealing anti-union laws
Renationalising energy and water
Taxing wealth
Abolishing the House of Lords
And introducing proportional representation.
It must make clear that it is not just moral — it is ready.
8. Expose the Illusion of Reform UK as Anti-Establishment
Farage and Reform UK are not the solution to working-class despair, they are a dead-end. A left party must make the case that Reform UK will hand power to landlords, fossil fuel giants, and insurance conglomerates all while waving a flag. There is nothing radical about austerity in a flat cap.
In short: what is to be done is to build a bold, unapologetic, working-class movement rooted in class struggle, economic democracy, and international solidarity — one that challenges both neoliberalism and the far right, not by moderating itself, but by going deeper into the material roots of the crisis.
This moment demands clarity, not compromise.
History won't wait. Neither should we.
References
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