​​Can ’Your Party’ become the Reform UK of the left?

​After much speculation and a fairly shaky launch, Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana have finally confirmed the creation of a new left-wing political movement. Currently nameless, the new ’party‘ has attracted support and scorn alike. Supporters have argued that this now provides a meaningful vehicle for those on the left dissatisfied with the direction of the Labour government. At the same time, critics have accused those behind it of potentially handing the keys of Number 10 to Nigel Farage. The truth, as ever, lies somewhere in between.     

​Writing in the Guardian this week, the former Labour leader set out at length his reasons for doing so: Labour’s policies on welfare and child poverty; its approach to Israel and Gaza; and an overall failure to deliver the change that people voted for last year.  

​​With the movement to be given a more formal party structure at its inaugural conference in the Autumn, the more immediate question is what this all means for the Labour Party, the left, and the UK political landscape more broadly. ​ 

​The question that many have been asking is whether this new left wing movement can be to the Labour Party what Reform UK has been to the Conservatives: a hungry, insurgent force offering an alternative to the mainstream, dragging the established party in a specific direction in terms of policy and tone, and in the longer-term, acting as a potential replacement as *the* popular electoral force. This comparison has some parallels in terms of the overarching narrative, though a left-wing party faces several challenges that Reform UK does not.  

​Elements of the mainstream media are more amenable to an insurgent party of the right.  For instance, big corporates are already lining up to understand what a Reform UK government would mean for the broader business landscape, and there is an expectation that funding will follow.  In contrast, whilst some of the left-leaning media will be sympathetic to Corbyn 2.0, his support base tends to be outside of the mainstream establishment.   

​This is demonstrated by the high level of popular support for this new movement.  Some 600,000 people have already signed up to the Your Party’s mailing list in the first week alone. While some of these will undoubtedly be mischief makers or just curious observers, there appears to be a real appetite for an alternative to what is currently being offered by the Labour government. The challenge will, of course, be to convert sign-ups on a mailing list into something more concrete and move from a popular movement to an alternative political party.  

​​Then it will be about what the party realistically wants to achieve. Westminster journalists will no doubt be framing the conversation in terms of seats at the next election.  However, this misses the central point of the movement: to provide a credible alternative and a vehicle for policy creation before becoming focused on genuine electoral aspirations.  

​Onlookers only need to see how the current debate is being shaped by a party with just five MPs to see that Parliamentary numbers do not just shape political power in 2025. Suppose this new party can capture the media and public attention similarly, putting issues such as class, inequality and economic redistribution in a way that Reform UK has done with crime, justice, and immigration. In that case, it may well find its influence similarly outstripping its performance at Westminster. ​ 

​As the quote from American economist Milton Friedman goes: “When a crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around”. The new party will undoubtedly be pushing for their ideas to be in the mix, either for the Labour government to adopt in office, or as part of a rebuilding process following the next election.  

​Conversations have also begun as to where this party fits into the broader political landscape, and how it could align with a similarly insurgent Green Party, following its best-ever performance at the 2024 election. Leadership hopeful Zack Polanski, running on an unapologetic platform of eco-socialism that pairs environmental concerns with social justice, has already signalled his willingness to work with this new party. While he will undoubtedly be concerned about this new party winning over Green voters, a series of electoral pacts in target seats in the big cities, appealing to younger, urban voters, could well represent a significant threat to those long-held Labour seats next time around.  

​What the case of Reform UK and 'Your Party‘ ultimately reveal is a deep dissatisfaction with politics and a sense by some that we are a country in a deep malaise. The economy is barely growing. Too few homes are being built, and when they are, they are scarcely affordable. Public services continue to be squeezed. A year into a new government, and the public is growing impatient.  Is the creation of ’Your Party‘ going to jolt the government into taking more radical action? 

​If it can provide genuine, credible solutions to these issues while empowering people to feel like they are their agents of change, then they may well pose a significant threat to Labour. If it is not, it will be consigned to the history books along with alternative parties which have come before.