Jeremy Corbyn ‘could launch a new Peace and Justice Party’ after losing Labour whip

Ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ‘could launch a new Peace and Justice Party’ before the next election after Keir Starmer refused to restore the whip over his refusal to apologise for anti-Semitism row

  • Ex-opposition leader, 72, lost  Labour whip in October 2020 over anti-Semitism
  • Clamed scale of the problem was ‘dramatically overstated for political reasons’ 
  • Sir Keir Starmer has made an apology for remarks a condition of returning 
  • Corbyn has signalled readiness to stand in Islington North seat as independent 
  • Now inner circle said to be suggesting he go further and set up a new party 


Jeremy Corbyn is considering setting up a new leftwing political party before the next general election after being thwarted in his attempts to return as a Labour MP.

The former opposition leader, 72, lost the Labour whip in 2020 after refusing to apologise for comments he made about the anti-Semitism row that engulfed it during his tenure.

Sir Keir Starmer has made that apology a condition of being allowed to stand for the party at the next election, expected next year or 2024, something his predecessor is refusing to do.

Mr Corbyn has already signalled his readiness to stand in his Islington North seat as an independent. But the Telegraph today suggested he is being urged by his loyal inner circle to formally set up a new party.

They want him to base it on the Peace and Justice Project he set up after stepping down as Labour leader in April 2020. 

It raises fears that leftwing Labour MPs could quit to join his upstart organisation, impacting on its ability to replace Boris Johnson’s Tory administration at the next election.

Today would-be splitters were told they should go to the electorate if they choose to quit. 

Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols said: ‘I don’t believe a single member of the PLP will leave to join him, even in the very unlikely event there’s actually any truth behind this.

‘But I firmly believe anyone defects from their party mid-term (whoever it’s to) should call a by-election accordingly.’

The former opposition leader, 72, lost the Labour whip in 2020 after refusing to apologise for comments he made about the anti-Semitism row that engulfed it during his tenure.

Sir Keir Starmer has made that apology a condition of being allowed to stand for the party at the next election, expected next year or 2024, something his predecessor is refusing to do.

Sir Keir Starmer has made that apology a condition of being allowed to stand for the party at the next election, expected next year or 2024, something his predecessor is refusing to do.

Both Mr Corbyn and his successor appear to be refusing to budge over his readmittance to the parliamentary party.

Mr Corbyn was suspended from Labour in October 2020 after claiming the scale of anti-Semitism had been ‘dramatically overstated for political reasons’ by opponents inside and outside Labour, along with the media. 

His suspension was later overturned by the party’s National Executive Committee but he has not had the party whip – that allows him to represent it in the Commons – returned.

While he remains a Labour Party member, Mr Corbyn has sat as an independent in the Commons ever since.

Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols said: 'I firmly believe anyone defects from their party mid-term (whoever it's to) should call a by-election accordingly'

Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols said: ‘I firmly believe anyone defects from their party mid-term (whoever it’s to) should call a by-election accordingly’

Attending the party conference in Brighton in September he refused to rule out running in Islington North as an independent.

And Sir Keir later admitted he may have to, telling the BBC: ‘He knows what he must do in order to move this forward. He’s not chosen to do so – that’s his choice.’ 

A run against Labour by Mr Corbyn is sure to lead to a bitter internecine battle at the next election.

He has held Islington North since 1983 and at the 2019 election he won a majority of 26,188 – down from 33,215 two years previously as Labour was hammered by Boris Johnson’s Tories. 

But his impact in if he runs candidates against Labour in Tory-held seats could be pivotal.