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LEADING left MP Zarah Sultana has resigned as chair of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs, the Morning Star has learned.
Ms Sultana had served the post for five years in the group uniting the left in the Parliamentary Labour Party.
She has not issued any statement outlining reasons for her decision, nor were any indicated to the group meeting this week at which her resignation was reported.
Ms Sultana is among the MPs who entered the Commons when Labour was under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
Along with six other Labour MPs, she was suspended from the PLP last July after voting in favour of lifting the two-child benefit cap.
Four of the seven have since had the parliamentary whip restored, but Ms Sultana remains suspended, along with John McDonnell and Apsana Begum.
Few observers believe she will ever be allowed to return to the PLP. She has remained an outspoken critic of the government on a range of issues while sitting as an independent.
A prominent politician of the Muslim faith, she has often taken a hard line against Downing Street seeking to appease Reform UK-inclined voters, who often hold racist views.
There has been speculation that she may seek to align with the Independent Alliance of MPs, which includes Jeremy Corbyn.
She has, however, kept her own counsel. Friends say that she is unlikely to be rushed into any decision regarding her political future and may wait on further indications from the Labour Party.
MP for Coventry South since 2019, Ms Sultana is Birmingham-born. There are several Labour-held seats in the city where she would stand a much better-than-even chance of winning should she choose to contest, according to some Birmingham campaigners.
The Socialist Campaign Group has struggled to find a role and a voice in Labour since Keir Starmer became party leader.
The PM has waged a broad campaign against the left in Parliament and the party at large, including controversially suspending MPs.
The group has largely seen to be coerced into acquiescence, except on the issue of Gaza, where broad sections of the parliamentary party have joined the left in unhappiness over Sir Keir’s pro-Israel stance.
Individual MPs have expressed concern on other questions, or more occasionally voted against the whip, but the group’s collective impact has been very muted.
