Jeremy Corbyn, Zahra Sultana launch Your Party in Manchester left-wing festival

Left wing activists from around the UK gathered at The World Transformed festival in Manchester this week with an event featuring Independent MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, as well as key figures from Belgium’s Workers’ Party, France Unbowed, and The Left Party.

The discussion focused on the vision, goals, and strategy of a new political party in Britain, Your Party, founded by Corbyn and Sultana ahead of its upcoming founding conference. The session outlined the party’s aims at what is considered the largest annual left-wing political festival in the United Kingdom.

The joint appearance of Corbyn and Sultana followed weeks of tension between them after announcing their new party, mainly over how to collect membership dues and fund the organisation. Sultana favoured launching an open grassroots fundraising campaign immediately after the announcement to highlight the party’s democratic and bottom-up character. She argued that popular funding would give the movement early independence from big business and major trade unions. Corbyn, however, had urged delaying the campaign until the organisational framework and political programme were complete, to avoid repeating past mistakes by the left and to prevent premature legal or financial complications.

Although these differences sparked internal debate among supporters, they did not result in a public split. Both later stressed that the disagreement was “procedural, not ideological” and reaffirmed their shared goal of building a mass political movement with transparent and sustainable grassroots funding. A recent opinion poll suggested that the two former Labour MPs’ new party could attract 10% of the vote if a general election were held now.

Speaking before more than 800 local members at the launch of the Merseyside branch of Your Party in Liverpool on Thursday, Corbyn and Sultana admitted their earlier missteps and pledged “no more public quarrels”, stressing the need to offer a genuine political alternative in Britain.

An electric evening in Liverpool — the heart of solidarity, unity and hope.

An amazing reception for @zarahsultana, Liverpool Community Independents and local campaigners.

We are building a mass movement up and down the country. Be part of it at https://t.co/0bhBHhX3KI pic.twitter.com/9Xc4UKdnb7

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 10, 2025

The festival began on Thursday in Manchester and runs until Sunday. It is one of the most prominent left-wing political events in the UK, bringing together hundreds of activists, academics, and social movements from across Britain and Europe. The festival provides an important space to revitalise and reorganise the left and to develop alternative visions in the face of the growing strength of right-wing and far-right movements.

The programme includes more than 120 sessions, workshops, and discussions addressing key issues such as Palestine and anti-imperialist conscience, workers’ and tenants’ organising, resistance to the far right, migration, feminism, and economic sovereignty. Gaza is expected to feature prominently, with dedicated panels on grassroots solidarity in Britain, the role of international movements in halting genocide, and the responsibility of Western governments for the continuation of the war.

“US, UK GO TO HELL!”
World Transformed conference march in Manchester yesterday — bonkers people.
“With activists from the Workers’ Movement, Palestine Solidarity Movement, climate movement, trans feminist movement…”
Tomorrow: Sultana, Polanski, and The Muslim Vote on the… pic.twitter.com/z88K7XjUNg

— Starmer Sycophant (@sirwg202110) October 10, 2025

This year marks the festival’s full independence from the Labour Party conference. The festival was previously run as a fringe event in the same city as the conference. Organisers say the separation “creates more space for free discussion, away from official party constraints”, at a time when Labour leader Keir Starmer’s government faces growing criticism over its stance on the genocide in Gaza, its restrictions on protest rights, and its use of anti-terror laws to criminalise left-wing movements.

Events are being held across multiple venues, including the Niamos Centre for Radical Arts, Hulme Gardens Centre, Windrush Lounge, and Ascension Church. Childcare and community activities are available to ensure inclusive participation. Organisers describe 2025 as a “pivotal moment” for the British left, given the rise of far-right movements and declining trust in traditional parties. They stress the need to “build new alliances and present political and economic alternatives to capitalism and militarism”. The festival features notable participation from trade unions, climate justice groups, queer movements, independent politicians, and Palestine solidarity activists.

Green Party challenges Israeli army

Earlier this month, the Green Party of England and Wales held its annual conference as it seeks to transform itself from a protest movement into a credible political force, expanding its focus beyond environmentalism to include economic justice. The key debates centred on tackling the climate crisis and the cost of living as interconnected issues. Among the most significant economic resolutions passed were calls to renationalise essential public services such as railways, energy, and water to lower household bills, and to impose wealth taxes and bold measures to reduce inequality. The party argued that the failure of privatisation demands firm investment in renewable energy.

On domestic and social policy, the conference witnessed intense debate over the housing crisis, with members overwhelmingly backing a proposal to phase out private landlords in the long term through measures such as rent controls and a ban on “buy-to-let” mortgages. Members also passed a controversial motion calling for the criminalisation of all drugs, not just reform of cannabis laws.

On Gaza, the most striking decision was the party’s vote urging the British government to classify the Israeli army as a terrorist organisation and to ban all cooperation with it. The Green Party also called on the UK to apologise for the 1917 Balfour Declaration and to support and fund the case before the International Criminal Court against Israel.

The Greens were the first British political party to adopt, at their annual conference last year, a motion endorsing the principles of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

In his closing remarks, newly elected leader Zack Polanski said that “the Green Party’s moment has arrived”, describing the conference as a “turning point from protest to power”. He emphasised that the party’s positive message on welcoming migrants and refugees stands in sharp contrast to the government’s current policies. The party, which quadrupled its parliamentary representation from one seat to four in last year’s general election, now aims to win at least 30 seats, according to Polanski.