Zarah Sultana is the Your Party MP for Coventry South, having first been elected as a Labour MP in 2019.

In the 2024 general election, Sultana (standing as the Labour candidate) received 20,361 votes, representing 47.6% of the vote share. The Conservative candidate, Mattie Heaven, received 10,160 votes (23.8%), while the Reform UK candidate, Chris Baddon, secured 5,711 votes (13.4%). Sultana was duly re-elected with a majority of 10,201 votes.

The Coventry South constituency covers the southern part of the City of Coventry, including the city centre, Coventry Cathedral, Coventry University, and areas such as Earlsdon, Cheylesmore, St Michael’s, Wainbody, Westwood and Lower Stoke. The seat has been held by the Labour Party since 1997, previously represented by Jim Cunningham from 1997 until 2019.

Political Career

On 23 July 2024, Sultana had the Labour whip withdrawn and was suspended from the parliamentary party for six months after voting for an Scottish National Party (SNP) amendment to the king’s speech calling on the new Labour government to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

Sultana included, seven Labour MPs were suspended from the parliamentary party for supporting the SNP amendment – namely Imran Hussein, John McDonnell, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne and Rebecca Long-Bailey.

In February 2025, the whip was restored to four of those suspended MPs – Hussein, Burgon, Byrne and Long-Bailey. However, Begum, Sultana and McDonnell remained as independent MPs because they had continued to be critical of the government, reports and briefings indicated.

On 3 July 2025, Sultana posted a statement to social media promising a new home for progressive voters disaffected with the direction of the Labour government. Her statement, published at 08:11 pm on a Thursday, began: “Today, after 14 years, I’m resigning from the Labour Party. Jeremy Corbyn and I will co-lead the founding of a new party, with other independent MPs, campaigners and activists across the country.”

Sultana said she would vote to scrap the two-child benefit cap “again”, noting also her opposition to the government’s decision to cut the winter-fuel payment.

She declared: “Jeremy Corbyn and I will co‑lead the founding of a new party, with other independent MPs, campaigners and activists across the country.”

However, the apparent launch was marred by confusion over whether Corbyn had agreed to “co-lead the founding of a new party” – as the Sultana statement put it.

Corbyn’s public response to the statement was issued on the afternoon of 4 July. He was conspicuously more cautious, stating that “discussions are ongoing” over the prospect of a new party. He said he was “delighted” that Sultana would help build a left-wing “alternative” to Labour.

It was widely reported that the pair’s disparate levels of enthusiasm reflected strategic divisions and internal tensions over the founding of a new party.

Corbyn was one of five independent MPs returned at the 2024 general election on platforms that emphasised Palestinian solidarity. He went on to form the so-called Independent Alliance of pro-Palestinian MPs, alongside Shockat Adam (Leicester South), Adnan Hussain (Blackburn), Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) and Iqbal Mohamed (Dewsbury and Batley).

Following her social media statement, Sultana announced she would join the Independent Alliance.

On 24 July, Corbyn and Sultana launched a website which invited prospective supporters to register. The promotional material referred to “Your Party”, which was interpreted as an interim name. 100,000s of supporters signed up the new party’s mailing list over the first few days.

However, the developments that followed Sultana’s announcement continued to reflect significant internal friction.

In September, Sultana launched a membership portal without the full agreement of Corbyn and the interim leadership. More than 20,000 people registered within hours. Corbyn publicly described the new membership portal as a “false… system” and referred the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

In response, Sultana accused Corbyn’s inner circle of forming a “sexist boys’ club” that sought to exclude her from decision-making, an allegation his team denied.

Corbyn’s statement denouncing the new membership platform was co-signed by all of the Independent Alliance MPs, Khan, Hussain, Mohamed and Adam – except Sultana. This appeared to signify the fact that Sultana had left the alliance.

Both Corbyn and Sultana later said the dispute had been resolved, with the latter likening their relationship to the Gallagher brothers. The new organisation officially registered with the Electoral Commission as “Your Party” on 30 September 2025.

Mere weeks later, however, independent MPs Adnan Hussain and Iqbal Mohamed quit the party entirely. Hussain and Mohamed remained members of the Independent Alliance in the House of Commons.

In a statement published to X, Hussain said he had been disillusioned by “persistent infighting, factional competition, and a struggle for power, position and influence rather than a shared commitment to the common good”.

On 18 November 2025, Sultana actively identified herself as a Your Party MP – the first parliamentarian to do so.

The party’s inaugural conference in Liverpool in November 2025 was marred by a first-day boycott by Sultana, who protested the expulsion of several members who also belonged to the Socialist Workers Party. Sultana described the move as a “witch-hunt.”

However, the conference concluded with a significant victory for the Sultana faction; members voted by 51.6% to 48.4% to adopt a collective leadership model rather than the single-leader system preferred by Corbyn.

Delegates also voted to make the Your Party name permanent.

In January 2026, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued a public statement noting that Sultana’s membership portal may have involved “serious criminal activity” and recommended a referral to the police.

Corbyn and Sultana led rival slates for Your Party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) elections.

Corbyn’s slate, The Many, ran on a platform of community-led organising, while Sultana’s Grassroots Left slate campaigned for total transparency and an end to “top-down” control of the party.

In February, it was announced that Corbyn’s slate had won a majority on Your Party’s newly formed central executive committee. The Many, won 14 of the 24 seats in the leadership collective, while Grassroots Left won seven.

On 9 March, according to the new collective structure, Corbyn was formally appointed as the party’s parliamentary leader.

Sultana was first elected to parliament as the Labour MP for Coventry South at the 2019 general election with a narrow majority of 401 votes over the Conservative candidate.

Sultana established herself as a vehement critic of Keir Starmer, the Labour leader of the opposition, during the 2019-2024 parliament.

In November 2020, she was among the 32 Socialist Campaign Group (SCG) MPs to sign a statement declaring that they opposed Corbyn’s suspension from the Labour Party and calling for the disciplinary action to be “swiftly reversed”.

In February 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sultana was one of 11 Labour MPs on the left of the party threatened with losing the party whip after they signed a statement by the Stop the War Coalition which criticised Nato, accusing the military alliance of “eastward expansion”. All 11 MPs, Sultana included, subsequently removed their signatures.

Sultana was a member of the House of Commons science, innovation and technology committee (2020-2022) and the business and trade committee (2020-2021).

Sultana delivered her maiden speech on 15 January 2020.

In it, she said: “I want to look teenagers in the eye and say with pride,”My generation faced 40 years of Thatcherism and we ended it. We faced rising racism and we defeated it. We faced a planet in peril and we saved it. We have our work cut out, but together we can do it.”

She added: “I am a working class Muslim woman, and I know that the Bullingdon boys will never be on my side or on the side of the shop stewards in Coventry, the cleaners in Carlisle, the migrant workers in Manchester or the teachers in Tottenham.

“I know that my Muslim brothers and sisters, my Jewish comrades, my friends in the Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities, and people of all faiths and none, are safer when we unite to defeat the far right, even as this government have given it new-found confidence.”

In November 2019, during the general election campaign, Sultana apologised for social media posts from 2015 which suggested she would “celebrate” the deaths of world leaders such as Tony Blair and Benjamin Netanyahu. In a statement apologising for the posts, Sultana said she had been “exasperated by endless cycles of global suffering, violence and needless killing”.

Sultana stood unsuccessfully as a Labour candidate in the 2019 European Parliament elections.

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Labour leadership 2020: Sultana was one of 33 Labour MPs who nominated Rebecca Long-Bailey for the party’s leadership in early 2020. The election was triggered by the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn following the party’s defeat in the 2019 general election, which resulted in Labour’s fewest seats in the House of Commons since 1935.

Long-Bailey, then the shadow business secretary, was widely regarded as the continuity candidate for the party’s left/Corbynite wing. Long-Bailey finished second with 27.6% of the vote, losing to Keir Starmer, who won a decisive victory in the first round with 56.2%.

Factional identity and political tradition

Socialist Campaign Group: Sultana served as chair of the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG), the standard-bearer of the left wing within the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), from May 2020 to February 2025. Founded in 1982 by followers of Tony Benn, the group has traditionally advocated policies such as widespread public ownership, wealth redistribution and strengthened trade union rights.

Green new deal champion: Sultana is listed as one of activist group Green New Deal Rising’s “cross-party green new deal champions”. GNDR is a progressive campaign organisation which promotes rapid decarbonisation and the transformation of the UK economy with a “Green New Deal” – a long-term plan to tackle climate change with large-scale public investment in renewable energy, green infrastructure and public services.

Spycops vote (2020): In October 2020, Sultana was one of the 34 Labour MPs to break the party whip by voting against the covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill at its commons third reading. The proposed legislation, often referred to as the “spycops bill”, was introduced by the Conservative government to authorise undercover agents and informants to commit crimes while on operations. The Labour Party had whipped its representatives to abstain on the bill on the basis that the legislation is “far from perfect” yet “necessary” due to “the need to provide a clear lawful framework for the use of human intelligence sources”.

Brexit and Europe

Brexit trade deal: In December 2020, Sultana was among the 37 Labour MPs to rebel against the leadership’s position on the EU (Future Relationship) Bill – which enabled the government to implement and ratify its post-Brexit trade deal with the EU. Keir Starmer, the newly elected Labour leader, argued that while the trade deal negotiated by Boris Johnson’s government was “thin” and flawed, the only alternative at that late stage was a “no-deal” exit. To enforce the leadership’s position, a three-line whip was imposed. Sultana abstained over the bill. One Labour MP, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, voted against the bill.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): In March 2025, Sultana stated that she would vehemently oppose the government flagship welfare bill.

She posted to social media: “I know where I stand on austerity. That’s why I voted to scrap the two-child benefit cap, opposed the means-testing for winter fuel payments, and will vote against cuts to welfare and disability benefits.

“Instead of targeting the most vulnerable, the government should tax the rich.”

In May 2025, Sultana signed a letter warning the government that the cuts were “impossible to support” and calling for a change in direction.

The letter read: “The planned cuts of more than £7bn represent the biggest attack on the welfare state since George Osborne ushered in the years of austerity and over 3 million of our poorest and most disadvantaged will be affected.

“Whilst the government may have correctly diagnosed the problem of a broken benefits system and a lack of job opportunities for those who are able to work, they have come up with the wrong medicine. Cuts don’t create jobs, they just cause more hardship.”

Sultana went on to vote against the bill at second reading. The vote came after ministers agreed to significant concessions to avoid defeat via a mass rebellion of Labour MPs on 1 July 2025.

Winter fuel payment EDM: In September 2024, Sultana signed an early day motion (EDM) expressing concern over the government’s proposed changes to the winter fuel payment. The motion called on the government to “postpone the ending of winter fuel payments and establish a comprehensive strategy to tackle fuel poverty, health inequality and low incomes among older people.”

Assisted dying

Sultana voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Sultana voted in favour of a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Palestine

Palestine Action vote: In July 2025, Sultana was one of 26 MPs to vote against the proscription of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000. The ban, passed by 385 votes to 26, came after the Home Office accused the group of “aggressive and intimidatory attacks against businesses, institutions and the public”. However, civil liberties organisations argued proscription represented an overreach of state power and a threat to the right to protest.

Ceasefire vote (November 2023): Sultana was among 56 Labour MPs to vote in favour of a Scottish National Party (SNP) amendment to the King’s Speech in the House of Commons calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza – defying the instruction set out by the party’s frontbench. Labour had tabled its own motion, making a more moderate appeal for a “humanitarian pause” in the conflict and ordered its representatives to support that stance.

Civil liberties

Covid passes campaign (2021): Sultana was one of over 70 MPs and peers who launched a cross-party campaign against the “divisive and discriminatory use” of Covid passes in April 2021. The campaign was triggered by government reviews into “vaccine passports”, which signatories argued would create a two-tier society and infringe upon fundamental civil liberties.

Before Politics

Born in Birmingham on 31 October 1993, Sultana grew up in the Lozells area of the city. Her family is of Pakistani ancestry; her grandfather migrated to Birmingham in the 1960s. She is Muslim.  

Sultana attended Holte School and later King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for sixth form. She joined the Labour Party in 2011.  

Sultana studied international relations with economics at the University of Birmingham.

Sultana was elected to the national executive council of the National Union of Students (NUS) while at university

Before becoming an MP, Sultana worked as a parliamentary officer for the Muslim engagement organisation MEND (Muslim Engagement and Development) and as a community organiser.

Personal Life

Sultana is Muslim and of Pakistani (Kashmiri) descent.

She is married to Craig Lloyd, a policy officer for the Fire Brigades Union.

Trivia

On 18 November 2025, Sultana became the first MP to sit for Your Party.