Second MP quits new left-wing Your Party group

A second MP has announced he is leaving Your Party, a new left-wing group set up by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and former Labour MP Zarah Sultana.

In a statement on social media, Iqbal Mohamed did not say why he was leaving but made reference to "false allegations and smears made against me".

The Dewsbury and Batley MP said British politics needed "a genuine, inclusive force for positive change" and expressed the hope that Your Party could fulfil that role.

Your Party has been approached for a comment.

Mohamed's departure comes a week after Blackburn MP Adnan Hussain said he would be "stepping away" from Your Party, citing a "toxic" culture towards "Muslim men".

Sultana announced in July that she was leaving Labour to set up a new party with Corbyn, saying it was time to challenge the "broken" Westminster system.

However since then the group has been mired in factional in-fighting including a row over the handling of £800,000 of donations.

Mohamed made reference to the internal tensions, saying in a statement: "The many false allegations and smears made against me and others, and reported as fact without evidence, have been surprising and disappointing.

"However, I am confident that my colleagues and I have acted professionally, patiently, and in good faith throughout."

He thanked those who had supported Your Party and wished them "success in their future endeavours".

He said he would continue working with colleagues in the Independent Alliance, a grouping in Parliament made up of Corbyn and four other independent pro-Gaza MPs who were elected for the first time in the 2024 general election.

Your Party, which is yet to form an official parliamentary group, is due to have its first conference on 29 November in Liverpool, where delegates will pick an official name and leadership model.

Sultana is hosting what is being billed as "Zarah's eve of conference Your Party rally" before the event kicks off.

The group had hoped to gain support from those on the left unhappy with the Labour government.

However, it has lost ground in recent months to the Green Party, which has surged in the polls and gained tens of thousands of new members following the election of left-wing activist Zack Polanski as it leader.