Zarah Sultana has started fundraising efforts under her own name for the formation of a new left-wing party in the United Kingdom.
This comes after Sultana announced she would leave the Labour Party to co-lead the new party with Jeremy Cobryn.
Sultana used the platform Action Network to set up the fundraising and supporter sign-up page which has recorded more than 64,000 ‘actions taken’ so far.
However there has been some controversy with the launch with some skepticism around it being put in Sultana’s name.
Concerns were fuelled by the fact that the movement between Sultana and Cobryn lacked wider infrastructure, causing fears that Sultana could retain ownership of the data and donations in the absence of them.
But some concerns appear to have been allayed after a week of silence and off-stage manoeuvring – culminating in an apparent agreement to fold all assets into the new party’s collective structure.
One ally said the backlash over the launch was overblown and noted the scale of support Sultana had generated.
While the future of the new party remains uncertain, it has already garnered some support.
A poll seen by the New Statesman showed the new Corbyn-led party polling at 10% of the electorate and according to a poll from More in Common specifically focused on the new party, 9% of Labour voters and 26% of current Greens voters said they would consider voting for such a party.
