Labour has lost its first sitting councillor to the newly formed political party led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, marking an early shift in local government support ahead of the party’s formal launch.
Grace Lewis, a 22-year-old councillor representing the Westwood ward on Coventry City Council, announced her resignation from the Labour Party on Friday. She will now serve as an independent councillor and has pledged her support to Corbyn and Sultana’s emerging political movement, currently operating under the placeholder name “Your Party.”
Corbyn and Sultana, both serving as independent MPs, unveiled the new party in July 2025. Positioned to the left of Labour, the group plans to challenge the party on a national scale, particularly over issues such as welfare reform, taxation, and the UK’s response to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The party’s founding conference is expected to take place in the autumn.
In a public statement, Cllr Lewis criticised Labour for what she described as a failure to deliver on its promises of meaningful change since taking office.
“Today, after five and a half years, I resigned my Labour Party membership,” she said. “The Labour Party promised ‘change’, yet since entering government, Labour has cut support for disabled people, kept the Tories’ cruel two-child benefit cap, and slashed winter fuel payments.”
She went on to accuse Labour of adopting rhetoric and policies that target vulnerable minorities and criticised its stance on the war in Gaza.
“They have joined Reform in targeting minorities, including migrants and trans people, all while being active participants in the genocide in Gaza, ramping up spending on war, and arming Israel – criminalising peaceful protesters in the process,” she said.
Support for Corbyn and Sultana
Cllr Lewis expressed optimism about the new party’s future, describing it as rooted in working-class communities and representing real change.
“From the picket line and demonstrations to the council chamber, I’ll continue to fight for peace, justice, and to put wealth and power into the hands of the many, not the few,” she said, echoing Corbyn’s former campaign slogan.
She concluded by encouraging others to get involved with the new party, sharing a call to action: “Together, let’s build the alternative. Join us at YourParty.UK.”
Lewis was elected as a Labour councillor in May 2024, just two months before Labour’s landslide general election victory. She has been outspoken on Middle East issues, particularly in relation to the conflict in Gaza. At a council meeting in December 2024, she accused Israel of a “genocidal assault on Gaza” and urged the West Midlands Pension Fund to divest from companies involved in arms sales to Israel.
Her political activism has extended beyond the council chamber. On her graduation day at the University of Warwick, she posed with a “Free Palestine” banner and wore a badge featuring the Palestinian flag, later posting on social media: “My degree may be over, but Warwick’s complicity is not – free Palestine.”
Zarah Sultana, MP for Coventry South, welcomed Lewis’s defection, calling her a “formidable force in local government.”
“Across the country, millions feel politically homeless. Labour is dead,” she said. “To councillors everywhere – are you really delivering the change Keir Starmer promised?”
Labour has downplayed the new party’s significance, noting that voters rejected Corbyn’s leadership in both the 2017 and 2019 general elections. However, early polling indicates that the new movement could attract between 10% and 18% of the popular vote, potentially splitting support on the left in the same way Reform UK has drawn votes from the Conservatives.
In an email to supporters, Your Party confirmed that its founding conference will take place before the end of 2025 and will be accessible both in person and online. The event will determine the party’s official name, structure, and platform.
“This conference will be the moment where, together, we will decide the direction, structure and platform of this party,” the message said.
The party also announced that Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana are working alongside four pro-Gaza independent MPs elected in 2024 to help establish the party and prepare for the autumn conference.
“They will be working with people from campaigns, trade unions and social movements across the country, united by the same goal: to launch a democratic party that belongs to you,” the email stated.
