Today shortly after 10 am 7 Labour MPs announced that they have resigned from the party to form a new, independent group in Parliament. These MPs have chosen to forfeit their party’s backing in order to pursue a new kind of politics. But what does this mean for Labour? What does this mean for British politics as a whole?

Luciana Berger, MP for Liverpool Wavertree, spoke first at the event this morning, explaining that she had made a ”Very difficult, painful but necessary decision” in leaving Labour.

This comes after much dissatisfaction within the Labour Party since the election of Jeremey Corbyn as Leader in 2015. From that point onwards Corbyn, along with Momentum (the grassroots group within Labour that backs Corbyn’s leadership) has transformed the inner structure of the party, transforming the party’s NEC (National Executive Committee) into an almost entirely Momentum group.

Chris Leslie MP described this phenomenon stating that Labour had been ”Hijacked by the machine-politics of the hard left.” Labour was born at the turn of the 20th century out of the burgeoning Trade Union Movement by people such as Keir Hardie who sought an alternative to the Liberal-Conservative balance of Parliament at the time. The party went on to advocate common ownership under Clement Attlee, push for social progress under Harold Wilson and then adapted as a party under Tony Blair. Under New Labour, which was in government for more than 13 years, the party was brought closer to the centre of politics and seen as a more electorally viable alternative to what came before it. Since then, Labour has failed to command a majority in the House of Commons.

This resentment within Labour reached a boiling point in the last few weeks when Berger’s local party decided to hold a vote of no confidence in her position as MP, a decision which was later reversed after a massive public backlash. Berger then went on to say that she was ”Embarrassed and ashamed to remain in the Labour Party” that has become ”Institutionally antisemitic.”

Allegations of antisemitism within Labour, as well as the party’s ineffective handling of these allegations, have caused widespread criticism from both outside of the party and within. The major example of this was the backlash that followed Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone’s comments where he claimed that Hitler was a supporter of Zionism initially that caused his suspension from the party in 2016. Many within Labour felt that the investigation process that followed was insufficient.

Chris Leslie affirmed his group’s belief that ”British politics is now well and truly broken.” This is a large case to be made to back this up. In an electoral sense, the last 3 elections have produced only one clear majority. First Past The Post (FPTP), the system through which our parliamentarians are elected, has produced a system in which Labour and Conservative have become main-stays of Parliament, regardless of the condition of either party.

This new group seeks to act as an alternative to issues such as ”Labour’s betrayal on Europe.” However, the group will seemingly draw policy from across the political spectrum, with Gavin Shuker MP stating that they ”Back well-regulated business, but in return expect them to provide decent, secure and well-paying jobs.” Whilst on the surface this seems to be a faceless piece of political rhetoric, the decision to mention the importance of business in their first formal event as a new group shows echoes of the Third Way ideology of New Labour, which advocated a ‘mixed economy’ as a part of its centrist policies.

Chuka Umunna MP stated that ”Fundamental change is needed” as the established parties are ”Deeply divided.” At the moment, this first step that Umunna and his colleagues have taken is not in the form of a new political party, but a movement. They hope to draw MPs from across the party spectrum who share their common values. This could mean that members of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats or even regional parties like the SNP may follow the lead of these 7 MPs and resign from their parties.

However, this is both an optimistic and risky approach. It is also possible that nothing significant will come of this move. Laura Parker, national coordinator of Momentum had responded to this move, stating ”These MPs want to take us back to the politics of the past.” The similarity of this move to the formation of the SDP from the Labour Party in 1981 was brought up in the Q&A session that followed the announcement, with Angela Smith MP denying that this was the same, due to the different political landscape that we face today.  The SDP was formed by four Labour centrists, 2 of whom were MPs at the time. The party lasted 7 years until it merged with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats. Will the new independent group suffer the same fate as the SDP? Or will they genuinely make a difference to the politics of lesser-evils and voting to keep the other party out?

This group has certainly sparked interest already, with the new website (theindependent.group) still down as of 12 pm this afternoon. Will this interest translate into support? Whether this group will, in fact, gain momentum (not that kind) and go on to transform British politics is yet to be seen. There is certainly room for change to our nation’s political system. This group could have a huge impact in Britain, or could also just be seen as another case of discontent within Corbyn’s Labour Party.

Sources: Sky News, BBC News, The Guardian, The Independent, theindependent.group