Jeremy Corbyn's Your Party (YP) could field a candidate in the 2028 London Mayoral election, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has learned. The former Labour leader, who now heads the recently formed party, said he will hold talks with the Green Party and independent groups across the capital about strategy for the election in 18 months.
Talks with Greens and independents
In an exclusive interview with the LDRS, Mr Corbyn indicated that progressive parties will take time in the coming months to work out how best to approach the race for City Hall. "We'll be in discussion with the Greens, with the various independent groups around London - and earlier this year in the council elections, we worked very closely with independent groups supporting their candidates," the Islington North MP told MyLondon's podcast, The London Brief.
"We worked with the independents in Enfield, in Redbridge, in Newham, in Tower Hamlets, as well as many outside London including in Kirklees, in Blackburn, Southport, and so on. And so I think we'll be in discussion with them about how best to approach the Mayoral election."
The Green Party, led by Zack Polanski, is the only major challenger not to have started its candidate selection process for May 2028. Reform UK has already selected Laila Cunningham, while the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are understood to be choosing their nominees by early 2027.
Party growth and branches
YP candidates contested only five wards across four boroughs in London at this year's local elections, with none elected as the Green Party took most of the progressive vote. However, Mr Corbyn said YP has enjoyed steady growth in London and will soon have branches in 20 boroughs. "That's two-thirds of London, and then we'll move on from there," he explained.
"We've got about 80 branches across the whole country so far, and we've worked very hard on that. The principle behind the branches is they've got to be locally open campaigning branches, local forums with the involvement of the community. They have to work with local groups and local communities."
This includes established independent groups such as the Redbridge Independents and Aspire in Tower Hamlets, the party of Mayor Luftur Rahman. YP branches will work with such groups to develop "pan-London policies ahead of the 2028 Mayoral election", Mr Corbyn confirmed.
Ground-up approach
Khalid Sadur, the YP branch officer for Enfield, said it was crucial to build the party "from the ground" across London. "We're still a new party - it takes a lot of effort and time to build up the infrastructure," he told the LDRS. "We're different because we want to build from the ground up. We want people to get involved - and not just with political meetings. We're about integrating ourselves into the community."
"It's engaging in campaigns. It's engaging in local issues and we want people to be active. And when we talk about doing politics different, that's what we mean. Given the momentum we've got now, and more branches to come, we've got a huge amount of members now in London. That's going to fuel us in terms of driving towards 2028. I absolutely want a Your Party candidate [to be there] for people to be able to vote for in 2028."
In 2023, Mr Corbyn told an event at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that he would "have a think" about standing as an independent candidate for City Hall himself. He has represented Islington North since 1983, holding the seat as an independent in 2024 after being suspended from the Labour Party. He now sits on the opposition benches alongside fellow YP MP Zarah Sultana. Asked about running for another term, he told the LDRS: "I'm here with the people."
