The group of councillors say the idea they are joining the party co-founded by Jeremy Corbyn is ‘pathetic’
Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana take part in a discussion on Your Party, their new political party(Image: Jacob King/PA Wire)
The group running Broxtowe Borough Council say accusations that they are joining Jeremy Corbyn’s new party are “pathetic”.
Labour says it would be “no surprise” to see the Broxtowe Alliance make the move, but the group say this is “scaremongering” and they have now been removed from a website linked to Mr Corbyn’s new outfit, called Your Party.
The Broxtowe Alliance is formed of 18 ex-Labour councillors who dramatically left the party in January amid scores of issues with Keir Starmer’s leadership.
Two of those councillors, including Broxtowe Borough Council’s deputy leader, were seen in pictures from a September meeting in Birmingham being addressed by Zarah Sultana, the MP who co-founded Your Party in June alongside Corbyn.
Zarah Sultana said of the September 28 meeting: “Inspired to meet organisers from across the country in Birmingham yesterday.
“In difficult times, your energy, commitment and solidarity show that another world isn’t just possible, it’s already being built.
“This movement’s strength is that it belongs to you – and my job is to help ensure it always does.”
The Broxtowe Alliance’s Greg Marshall and Tyler Marsh were both at this September meeting, leading the Broxtowe and Nottingham city Labour groups to speculate online about whether they were “about to join Your Party”.
The Broxtowe Alliance then appeared on an online directory titled: “Find Your Party local branch”.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “After Jeremy Corbyn was rejected at the ballot box, this party needed to change and Keir Starmer led that change. “Despite Broxtowe residents backing that change at the ballot box last summer, the Broxtowe Alliance ignored them and stormed out, putting themselves before voters. “It would be no surprise to see them hark back to the Corbyn days again and align with a cause their residents roundly rejected.
“They should start focusing on delivering for the people of Broxtowe rather than on their own ambitions.”
On January 2, 2025, 20 Broxtowe Labour councillors announced they would be resigning from the party to form a new independent group(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)
Yet the Broxtowe Alliance said that the September meeting was not organised by Your Party and was instead a broader event for local independent groups across the country.
It has also been confirmed that the website which listed the Broxtowe Alliance is not an official Your Party website, with the group unaware that it was even on there until Nottinghamshire Live drew it to their attention.
The Broxtowe Alliance has now been removed from the website and its leader, Councillor Milan Radulovic, said of Labour’s accusations: “I’m just astonished with the naivety of these people.
“If only they spent as much time on supporting us in delivering services for local residents as they do on trying to nitpick.
“The country is in absolute turmoil and all the Labour Party does is try and find links between us and Jeremy Corbyn. It’s pathetic.
“The Broxtowe Alliance is a group of independent councillors that left the Labour Party because it turned its back on working-class people, and we’re very happy to stand on our record.”
Jeremy Corbyn resigned as Labour leader in 2020 after the party suffered a historic election defeat the year before.
Keir Starmer soon suspended his predecessor and blocked him from standing as a Labour MP at the 2024 election, though Corbyn was re-elected as an independent.
