'I spoke at Jeremy Corbyn rally - but I haven't joined his new party', senior Lancashire councillor explains
The leader of the official opposition on Lancashire County Council says he has not signed up to Jeremy Corbyn’s new party – in spite of speaking at an event in Preston promoting the new movement.
Azhar Ali told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) there was not yet any entity to join, as ‘Your Party’ – as it has provisionally been branded – is yet to be formally constituted.
The independent Nelson East division representative said he wanted to “wait and see” what “the direction of travel” was for the left-wing venture, which the former Labour leader has launched with ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana.
However, County Cllr Ali – who leads the Progressive Lancashire alliance of independent and Green Party members that formed the main opposition at County Hall after the local elections in May – said he was enthused by the “really packed” Your Party gatherings in both Preston and Blackburn on Saturday, which “could have been [booked out] three or four times over”.
The new party says more than 700,000 people have so far registered an interest in it – among them the three Preston independents within Progressive Lancashire who have already signalled their intention to join once it is officially formed.
County Cllr Ali – who led the Labour opposition group on the county council between 2017 and 2024, before quitting the party after an antisemitism row – said it was important for Your Party “to engage with voters and communities to see what their views are about policy, the direction of our country, all the challenges that lie ahead and what the solutions are” ahead of its formal establishment.
“But at the moment there is no party or manifesto,” he added.
At the hundreds-strong Preston event, Jeremy Corbyn said he was hopeful a foundation party conference would be held in November.
He told the audience that the current Labour government was delivering what he described as “austerity 2.0” following 14 years of Tory rule in the same vein.
“We need to develop both the campaign and the economic argument about bringing people together to win [better] pay and conditions, to win those worker rights and to ensure there is proper funding for local government, health and all the other [public] services.,” Mr. Corbyn said.
He added that his new party would be “open, inclusive, democratic, but – above all – [based on] grassroots campaigning”
Progressive Lancashire is made up of seven independent county councillors and four Green party representatives. As well as the trio of Preston indies who have nailed their colours to the Your Party mast, County Cllr Mohammed Iqbal (Brierfield and Nelson West) – says he is awaiting more information about the new party and will then “consider” whether to join.
Green Party group leader Gina Dowding has said she and her colleagues will continue to sit beneath the Progressive Lancashire umbrella irrespective of whether any or all of the independents become part of Your Party.