A new political society promising to “facilitate the discussion of left-wing ideas” has been formed at Oxford University.
Your Party Society, inspired by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s alliance, was announced in an Instagram post this week, and will follow a similar democratic structure to the national Your Party movement. Students who attend its inaugural meeting are expected to help set the agenda. The society’s social events have not yet been decided.
The government’s response to ongoing Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza, as well as its approach to trans rights and welfare spending, are all expected to be policy focuses for the new group.
Callum Turnbull, co-founder alongside Esme Thomson, told Cherwell he wanted to see a “united front” of left-wing groups at the University, noting that no mainstream political societies had outwardly expressed support for Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P).
He added that Oxford Labour Club (OLC) has not done a “good enough job of actually calling out the government for not doing what a Labour government should be doing”, and alluded to “issues with the leadership of the Labour Party getting in the way” of OLC.
The foundation of the new society at Oxford comes amid disaffiliations of student Labour societies from the national party, with those at Warwick and Manchester rescinding their affiliation in support of Corbyn and Sultana’s party.
Though the society is not officially associated with Your Party, Turnbull told Cherwell that this was an ambition “in a way that it doesn’t become so affiliated that it becomes like OLC, where we cannot call out things that we don’t like about the party”.
Adnan Hussain, an independent MP belonging to the Corbyn-Sultana alliance, sparked debate last week after declaring that trans women are “not biologically women”. Hussain voted against decriminalising abortion in June 2025.
Turnbull told Cherwell that he expects “most people who will be coming to events would be disagreeing with [Hussain’s views], and that is something that we would want to be able to call out”.
He also alleged that OLC’s “top down” structure meant that figures in the Labour Party would “groom” those in senior roles at the society for a career in politics.
Responding to Your Party Society’s comments, OLC told Cherwell: “While we welcome new left-wing voices, Your Party does not offer a progressive future. It welcomes members who openly oppose abortion, who question gay marriage, and who proudly refer to themselves as ‘conservative’.
“A society tied to that party cannot be counted on to stand up for progressive causes. We hope that these voices will instead be used in the society that has proven itself to stand by those causes, and which has achieved genuine reform in Oxford and at this university to achieve them. That society is the Oxford Labour Club.”
