Expect more defections to Your Party in Scotland, Zarah Sultana says

Scotland should expect to see more defections to Your Party, Zarah Sultana has said.

The former Labour MP, who co-runs the party with Jeremy Corbyn, said the left-wing outfit was in active discussions with elected politicians north of the border.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Ms Sultana would not say which parties the politicians were currently in, or whether they were councillors or MSPs.

The new political group got its first Scottish councillors on Friday after three Greens in Glasgow defected.

Ms Sultana, who spoke ahead rally to hundreds in Maryhill, said Your Party would offer Scots a socialist alternative to the other parties and a policy platform based on “hope”.

She said its position on independence would be decided by its Scottish members, as would the decision on a potential Scottish leader.

The Coventry South MP – who lost the Labour whip over her opposition to the two-child benefit cap – also confirmed the party will field candidates at the Scottish Parliament elections in May.

Asked if Scotland should expect to see more defections to Your Party, she said: “Yes. There are talks happening and I hope we will be able to announce future defections very, very soon.”

Asked if discussions were ongoing with MSPs, she added: “I can’t comment further – you just have to watch this space.

“We are having conversations with lots of people and there is an energy and an appetite in Scotland that is very exciting.

“This is the beginning.”

She said her party would “absolutely” stand candidates at Holyrood next year, saying “Scottish voters have to be able to choose a socialist alternative”.

“The timetable is obviously quite short,” she added, “but where there’s a will there’s a way.

“I think the list system allows us have an opportunity to get some Your Party MSPs through.

“The important job that we have to play is stopping Reform from winning, and whether that’s in Westminster where they could form a government in 2029 or become the formal opposition here in Holyrood. We all have to work together to stop that.”

She said her party would offer Scots “hope” and “a positive vision”, adding that “we cannot accept austerity, we cannot accept managed decline” she said had been allowed both at Westminster and in Scotland under the SNP and Greens.

She attacked the Scottish Government’s record on Palestine, saying it had given taxpayers money to Italian arms company Leonardo “which is fuelling genocide in Gaza”.

The left-wing politician said Your Party’s stance on independence would be decided by its members in Scotland, telling PA: “As an English MP, an MP that represents an English constituency, it’s not appropriate for me to say what our party’s position will be on independence.

“What I am clear about is the fact that Westminster shouldn’t have a veto on independence.

“The Scottish Parliament should be able to democratically decide the timing of the referendum and whether the party’s position is yes or no it has to be determined by our Scottish members.

“They have to vote through what our position will be.

“But what is clear from the conversations that I’m having, if the party’s position is yes, and if the Scottish people vote for independence, that your party is the only political party that will deliver independence.”

Ms Sultana said her party would “of course” have pro-union members, but said her party would respect whichever way members vote on Scotland’s constitution.

Asked if the party would have its own Scottish leader, she said: “That has to be done democratically.

“I believe in maximum member democracy and autonomy for Scottish members.

“That means them choosing which candidates to support and elect which seats to run in, and how that looks has to be shaped by our Scottish members.”