JEREMY Corbyn has said “there will be an alternative” to Labour at the next general election.
Speaking on ITV’s Peston, Corbyn acknowledged “a significant thirst for an alternative view to be put” and confirmed that he was working with a number of independent groups to bring them together.
He suggested the formation of a “left independent party of socialist view[s]” and indicated that it could contest seats nationally.
Additionally, the former Labour leader said that any potential new party would focus on “poverty, inequality and a foreign policy that’s based on peace rather than war".
When asked if he would lead the party, Corbyn said: “I’m here to work – I’m here to serve the people in the way I’ve always tried to do.”
Corbyn served as leader of the Labour Party between 2015 and 2020, leading it into two general elections.
At the 2024 general election, he stood as an independent candidate in Islington North, the seat he has held since 1983, after Labour’s National Executive Committee barred him from standing for the party.
He was subsequently expelled and went on to defeat the Labour candidate, Praful Nargund, by a majority of 7247.
Following his re-election, Corbyn founded the Independent Alliance of MPs. The group currently includes five members – all elected as independents in 2024 – who stood on broadly progressive, pro-Palestinian platforms.
Alongside Corbyn, the group includes Shockat Adam (Leicester South), Adnan Hussain (Blackburn), Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr), and Iqbal Mohamed (Dewsbury and Batley).
Corbyn told Peston: “The Alliance group of MPs has worked very hard and very well together over the past year in parliament, and we’re coming up to our first anniversary.”
The Independent Alliance said upon its formation: “Millions of people are crying out for a real alternative to austerity, inequality and war.
“As individuals we were voted by our constituents to represent their concerns in parliament on these matters, and more, and we believe that as a collective group we can carry on doing this with greater effect.”
