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Zarah Sultana has declared that “Labour is dead” and appears to be on a quest to form alliances with other left-wing parties that may help replace it.

She is pressing ahead with the creation of a new left-wing party alongside Jeremy Corbyn, and – speaking in Newcastle at a conference of Jamie Driscoll’s Majority Party – Sultana made it clear that she is not interested in creating a “Labour Party 2.0”.

She said she would rather be part of a movement rooted in democracy and bold solutions to entrenched problems.

More than 750,000 people have already registered their interest in her party – provisionally called “Your Party” until a formal launch later this year.

At the Majority conference, she spoke warmly of Green Party leader Zack Polanski, stressing the importance of co-operation where interests align.

But the Greens are cautious about the idea of an electoral pact – wary of subsuming their own distinct identity. Still, there are points of similarity, particularly over foreign affairs such as Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and the re-nationalisation of privatised utilities like water companies.

The Majority Party, founded by Driscoll after Labour blocked him from standing in the North-East mayoralty election, has also shown signs of alignment.

Driscoll himself is listed as one of three directors of the company managing donation processing for Sultana and Corbyn’s new party.

He is already pursuing a “progressive alliance” for Newcastle council elections, bringing together independents, Greens and socialists to resist Reform UK.

So, there are overlapping goals: tackling the cost of living crisis, opposing cuts to benefits, rejecting corporate capture of politics, and challenging both Labour’s shift to the right and the rise of Farage’s Reform UK.

But there are also stumbling blocks. The Greens have a strong focus on environmental policy, which may sometimes clash with industrial priorities favoured by other socialist groups.

The Socialist Party (formerly Militant) and the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) have long called for a workers’ party, but historically have been sceptical of initiatives led by former Labour MPs.

Then there are newer, smaller outfits like Breakthrough and the Northern Independence Party (NIP), which highlight regional inequality and often bristle at being absorbed into larger movements.

Some may say these are splinter groups. The challenge for Sultana and Corbyn is therefore to avoid the trap of becoming yet another of them.

Unless “Your Party” can convince other progressive organisations that it genuinely intends to share power with members, trade unionists, and grassroots movements – rather than being just another Westminster-centred operation – it risks failing to unify the left.

The appetite is clearly there. Hundreds of thousands are signing up because they believe Labour has abandoned them.

If even half of the UK’s left parties can find enough common ground to co-operate on elections and campaigns, it could present the first real challenge to the two-party status quo in decades; at least, a more wholesome challenge than that of Reform UK.

For now, Sultana says: “Watch this space.”

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