The ex-Labour leader and now independent MP is launching a new party to unite left-wing groups such as Enfield Community Independents, reports James Cracknell

Khalid Sadur from Enfield Community Independents (left) has been working with Jeremy Corbyn (right)

A political group in Enfield is aligning itself with the new left-wing project being spearheaded by ex-Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Enfield Community Independents – which began as an action group set up “to provide a voice and a real choice for those who feel disillusioned with politics” – has now formalised its operation by registering with the Electoral Commission.

Founder Khalid Sadur finished third in a council by-election last November as an independent candidate, securing almost 10% of the vote and finishing ahead of candidates from the Greens, Liberal Democrats and Reform UK.

Now, Khalid says Enfield Community Independents is aiming to form an electoral alliance with other left-wing groups locally while also tapping into the popularity of ‘Your Party’, a new national project led by Corbyn and fellow ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana.

Your Party does not yet have any policies and has not even confirmed its name, with its 600,000 supporters being invited to come up with their own ideas ahead of a conference this October where the project will be officially launched – and its name and leadership structure confirmed.

Explaining the relationship between Enfield Community Independents and the fledgling left-wing party nationally, Khalid told the Dispatch this week: “There are many independent groups that have come up [around the UK], with four MPs elected at the last election, plus Jeremy Corbyn.

“We started working with Jeremy Corbyn at the Jubilee by-election [last November] and since then we have been working within, to set up the new party in the background.

“We want it to be community based, we don’t want to be Labour 2.0, we want members from the community, to be the foundation of the party and have a say in the wider party. We are still working out the mechanics of it, but it will be community based.”

Enfield Community Independents will be responsible for fielding candidates at next May’s local election, but could also end up including the name of the new left-wing party on ballot papers.

Khalid continued: “We don’t know how it will play out, but for sure we will be standing independent candidates. The only issue is how that might happen. We want to stand one per ward, because we want to give everyone a chance. In some wards we may field more than one, but one is a minimum.”

Historically, support for left-wing parties has been fractured in the UK, usually preventing them from becoming a force in parliament. Khalid says the idea is to unite in opposition to the Labour government and erode its base.

Locally, parties such as the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) and The Socialist Party are “very much united” with what Enfield Community Independents is doing, and Khalid is also open to conversations with others.

He said: “We have reached out to the Greens and nothing is off the table, but we are not actively pursuing it at the moment. We are more than happy to have conversations with our Green Party colleagues and it may well be sensible to work together.

“Enfield Community Independents has ten broad principles and we will come up with a manifesto, but if there is a platform agreed with Your Party we will incorporate that as well.”

As for what Khalid sees as the main issues in Enfield ahead of next May’s local election, Khalid said: “There is a huge gap between local people and their councillors. People are really disappointed with Labour and their mismanagement locally. The debt is huge with Meridian Water and incompetent leadership and there’s lot of issues with Whitewebbs and selling off land to Spurs, the cuts to libraries, mismanagement of Edmonton Leisure Centre.

“If it is one word, it’s ‘mismanagement’.”

Khalid also said that national issues such as welfare cuts would erode Labour’s support locally. But what can Enfield Community Independents realistically expect to achieve?

“There is antipathy with Labour and the Tories and the mainstream parties,” he said. “So our thinking is, we want to get as many seats as possible, and that is our goal. We are targeting the Labour vote because that is our base but how that lands […] it could be that there is a hung council and there is a need for parties to work together. That might not be a bad thing.

“It is exciting times. I have lived in the borough since 1978 and we have never had a genuine alternative to Labour and the Tories here.”

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