Could a new party led by Corbyn reshape politics?

The MP for Islington North - ex-leader of the Labour Party and informal spokesperson for the “Alliance” group of independents in the House of Commons - is staging a bit of a comeback.

- SEAN O'GRADY

Jeremy Corbyn has been on ITV’s Peston to drop the heaviest hint yet that he wants to start a new socialist party, and he’s ready to lead it. Nobody expects him to be prime minister (albeit he’s been underestimated before), but he could make an impact of sorts.

What has Corbyn been saying?

For some months, he’s been talking about the need for an “alternative” on the left of British politics, and the welfare bill fiasco offers an opportunity for him to explain Labour’s current disarray. Last September, Corbyn addressed a meeting aimed at founding a new left-wing party, Collective; his faithful ally, the former Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, also attended along with various former “independent” candidates.

Now, Corbyn says the Alliance group of five independent MPs “have worked ... very well together over the past year in parliament” and offer “an alternative of a left independent party of socialist views”. He says a “grouping will come together, there will be an alternative” because there is “a thirst for an alternative view ... which is about a society that deals with poverty, inequality, and a foreign policy that’s based on peace not war.”

Will Corbyn lead it?

He’s obviously the most experienced and high-profile of the five MPs. On the other hand, he’ll be about 80 by the time of the next election. He says: “I’m here to work - I’m here to serve the people in the way I’ve always tried to do.”

Will it happen?