Starmer would be foolish not to recognise the threat posed by a left-wing Corbyn party

Those of us who remember Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party with a fond nostalgia will never forget how chaotic it was.

I recall a shadow cabinet reshuffle briefing that took place after midnight and, on another occasion, a phone call at 1.50am to inform me Mr Corbyn had sacked Hilary Benn from the shadow cabinet.

And so we shouldn't be surprised that his attempt to launch a new left-wing party to challenge Sir Keir Starmer has already descended into chaos and farce.

And it hasn't even been launched yet and doesn't have a name! As botched launches go, so far it's classic Corbyn.

Though to be fair, the chaos isn't entirely his fault.

The Financial Times quoted an ally of Mr Corbyn claiming he was frustrated that Zarah Sultana, the 31-year-old MP for Coventry South, announced he was launching a new party without consulting him first.

"Zarah has really overplayed her hand," according to the ally.

"She jumped the gun to get the data and the donations."

Then came an embarrassing rebuff from Mr Corbyn's two most senior allies during his leadership, his shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow home secretary Diane Abbott.

Mr McDonell told me: "Just to be absolutely clear, I am a Labour Party member. I have had the whip suspended, that's all, and I expect it back.

"Sad to see Zarah has gone, but I am remaining in the party and hope the whip will be restored soon."

Labour's opponents, not surprisingly, are gloating, however.

"He has awful policies but is a vastly superior politician to Starmer," declared Reform UK's Zia Yusuf.

"His new party will be enough to lose Labour many, many seats in 2029. Likelihood of a Reform majority thus improve nicely."

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Sir Keir will no doubt claim Mr Corbyn's new party demonstrates how much his Labour Party has changed. It's a claim we've heard many times before.

But the Labour leader and his top team would be foolish to dismiss the threat posed by Mr Corbyn, if and when he does indeed launch a new party.

The other abiding memory of the Corbyn leadership is those mass rallies, with his adoring supporters singing "Oh, Jeremy Corbyn!"

Let's not forget, either, how he rocked Glastonbury in 2017.

Mr Corbyn may not get the backing of many Labour or independent pro-Gaza MPs.

But left-wing Labour activists will flock to join a new Corbyn party in their thousands.

Mr Corbyn is promising "real change", a "new kind of political party" and he says "discussions are ongoing".

Watch this space, in other words. Some things never change, of course.

Those things include the chaotic style of Mr Corbyn's leadership.

But even with a botched launch, once his party is up and running it could potentially inflict real damage on Sir Keir's party.

In elections next year and beyond, Labour could face the prospect of losing votes on the right to Reform UK and votes on the left to Mr Corbyn.

With his massive cult following, Mr Corbyn has already demonstrated his ability to embarrass Sir Keir, when he won his Islington North seat as an independent in last year's general election.

Now 76, opponents will claim Mr Corbyn is growing old disgracefully. But the old rebel loves nothing more than a protest, a march and a rally.

He's not finished yet!

(c) Sky News 2025: Starmer would be foolish not to recognise the threat posed by a left-wing Corbyn party