| The first thing to understand about the Independent Alliance is that it is not a political party. All five members – Corbyn, plus the MPs Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain and Iqbal Mohamed – stood as independents at the last election, profiting from parallel resentments of Labour over its tack towards the centre and the war in Gaza. Because they did not run under the same banner, they are not eligible for the “Short money” that parties with Westminster representation receive. They do not have a shared manifesto, a leader or any kind of dues-paying membership. What they hope to have, though, is a platform to put pressure on Labour from the left. As well as the natural amplification that will come with common cause and greater media interest, the group want a similar number of speaking slots in parliamentary debates and PMQs as those allocated to other small parties such as Reform and the Greens. “They will hope it is the best of both worlds,” said Andy Beckett. “New parties inevitably face huge scrutiny of whether they can succeed, but they can avoid that while acting collectively. I don’t think that’s deliberate strategic genius, but it’s probably helpful.” A longer term question remains: could this be a first step towards a new party? Here are some reasons to think that could happen – and some it might not. Why a new party could form The left is deeply frustrated with Keir Starmer. From the ruthless deselection of leftwing Labour candidates to the refusal to rescind the two-child benefit cap, there are myriad reasons for Corbynites to feel they have lost all influence over the Labour leadership – and many have little faith that it is ever coming back. Nor do they have much to lose by stepping outside the tent. “There was a moment just after the election when people on Starmer’s side were saying: he’s going to listen, and take account of the people who’ve left us over Gaza and what looks like austerity,” Andy said. “But actually, the way he’s governed so far has riled a lot of people up. Even the decision on arms sales to Israel has made some more angry rather than placating them, because it doesn’t go far enough.” They may be amplified by surprising sections of the media. Leftwingers could be forgiven for feeling sceptical that the likes of the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph could be helpful to them, given the history of the Corbyn years. “But we’re already starting to see some of the more mischievous or cynical parts of the rightwing press have more time for them now there’s a centrist Labour government in place,” Andy said. See, for example, notably sympathetic coverage of Diane Abbott when she was threatened with removal as a Labour candidate. “You could imagine the novelty of a new grouping opposing Starmer getting quite a sympathetic audience.” They have a natural constituency – and reason to believe they can make an impact. Corbyn might have been vanquished, but the voters he represented have not. As Andy noted in this piece, last year’s edition of the British Social Attitudes survey found that the public is “as leftwing in their outlook as they have been at any time since 1986”. “But you only have a very small number of MPs who are leftwing, against, I would argue, 15-20% of the public,” Andy said. “Under-40s who are socially liberal and economically leftwing are not very well represented.” In the last election, Labour won its landslide through many small majorities. If they lose a bit of their fairly low 34% vote share, it is plausible that a party including prominent leftwingers like Faiza Shaheen or Jamie Driscoll could have an impact in much the same way that Reform did on the Tories: winning a few seats, but costing Labour a lot more. Why it might not | 