Zarah Sultana has announced she is quitting Labour to form a new party with Jeremy Corbyn.
The Coventry South representative said she would "co-lead the founding of a new party" with the former Labour leader.
In a statement posted on X, Ms Sultana said that the project would also involve “other independent MPs, campaigners and activists across the country”.
“Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper,” she continued, adding that the “two-party system offers nothing but managed decline and broken promises”.
“A year ago, I was suspended by the Labour Party for voting to abolish the two-child benefit cap and lift 400,000 children out of poverty.
“I’d do it again. I voted against scrapping winter fuel payments for pensioners. I’d do it again. Now, the Government wants to make disabled people suffer; they just can’t decide how much.”
Her announcement comes in the same week as Sir Keir Starmer U-turned on plans for welfare reform in the face of a rebellion from Labour backbenchers.
Ms Sultana also accused the Government of being an "active participant in genocide" in Gaza in her statement.
Looking ahead to the next general election, Ms Sultana added: "In 2029 the choice will be stark: socialism or barbarism".
Ms Sultana was among seven MPs who had the Labour whip suspended last summer after supporting an amendment to the King's Speech relating to the two-child benefit cap.
Four of the seven MPs had the whip restored earlier this year, but Ms Sultana was not included in that group.
McDonnell expresses regret
John McDonnell, another of the suspended MPs who has not had the whip restored, posted on X that he was "dreadfully sorry" to see Ms Sultana quit the party.
He said: "The people running Labour at the moment need to ask themselves why a young, articulate, talented, extremely dedicated socialist feels she now has no home in the Labour Party and has to leave."
Corbyn
Mr Corbyn led Labour from 2015 to April 2020, stepping down after the party's loss at the 2019 general election.
He was suspended from Labour in 2020 after he refused to fully accept the Equality and Human Rights Commission's findings that the party broke equality law when he was in charge, and said antisemitism had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.
He was blocked from standing for Labour at last year's general election and expelled in spring 2024 after announcing he would stand as an independent candidate.
Mr Corbyn won his Islington North constituency as an independent candidate with a majority of more than 7,000.
Independent Alliance
Last year, Mr Corbyn formed the Independent Alliance with other independent members of the Commons.
Asked on ITV's Peston programme on Wednesday whether that group could turn into an official party, Mr Corbyn said they have "worked very hard and very well together" over the last year in Parliament.
He added: "There is a thirst for an alternative view to be put."
“That grouping will come together, there will be an alternative,” he later said.
Labour response
Responding to Ms Sultana's statement, a Labour spokesperson said: "In just 12 months, this Labour Government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions. Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain."
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
