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Zarah Sultana’s dramatic departure from the Labour Party to help form a new left-wing political movement has ignited a fierce debate — and a transparent campaign to push her out of Parliament entirely.

Critics, mostly from Labour ranks and their media allies, have called on the Coventry South MP to resign her seat and seek a fresh mandate from voters.

The logic, they say, is simple: she was elected as a Labour candidate and should now test her support without the party banner.

But let’s not pretend this is a point of principle.

This is a power play — a calculated effort to remove one of the Left’s most articulate and popular voices from Westminster before a new party can even get off the ground.

Labour wants a by-election – but why now?

Calls for by-elections over party defection are rare — and usually ignored when it suits the major parties.

After all, no one demanded Keir Starmer resign when he shifted Labour’s platform to the right.

Nor were calls loud when MPs joined Change UK in 2019.

What makes Sultana different is that she still holds strong grassroots support and could pose a threat if Labour’s polling continues to dip.

With the party’s popularity at an all-time low following a string of unpopular policies — including support for the two-child benefit cap, welfare clampdowns, and its stance on Gaza — Sultana’s principled stance may resonate beyond her base.

In short: Labour fears her precisely because she might win.

Would she actually lose? Don’t be so sure.

The idea that Sultana would inevitably lose a by-election relies on two assumptions: that she lacks the resources to compete, and that Labour’s support remains solid in working-class areas like Coventry South.

But both claims are shaky.

Labour suffered several shocks in the 2024 general election, with Independent and Green candidates taking seats in what were once Labour heartlands.

The party’s shift rightward has alienated parts of its base, particularly young voters, Muslims, and low-income communities — Sultana’s core supporters.

Meanwhile, crowdfunding, union support, and the grassroots activist network that once backed Corbyn could well rally behind her.

A well-run, people-powered campaign could make Sultana not just competitive — but victorious.

And what then?

A re-elected Sultana, under a new party banner, would send a shockwave through Westminster and prove the space exists for a serious Left alternative.

Should she have been ready first? Perhaps — but that’s the nature of political courage

Of course, critics have a point when they ask whether Sultana jumped too soon.

Launching a new political party in the current system — first-past-the-post, media-hostile, donor-dependent — is no small task.

She’s now fighting on terrain designed to crush Independents.

But political movements aren’t born from perfect conditions.

They’re built through moments of moral clarity.

For Sultana, opposing what she called a “genocide” in Gaza and standing up for Britain’s poor were lines in the sand.

Her exit from Labour is a risk.

But it’s also a statement — and for many disillusioned voters, that’s exactly what they’ve been waiting to hear.

If Labour believes Sultana’s support is so shallow, let them call her bluff.

But the Party of Government may be surprised to find that the electorate is hungrier for integrity than party loyalty.

That may be especially true when Labour has so little of the former left to offer.

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