Arise appears to be a local grassroots arm of Jeremy Corbyn’s proposed national party, Your Party
Former Labour Leader and now Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn has attended the launch of a new political party in a North London borough, which plans to contest seats at next year’s local elections.
Arise, led by former Harrow Labour Councillor and Parliamentary Candidate Pamela Fitzpatrick, claims neither the Conservatives nor Labour have improved Harrow as a borough and the new party is pledging to deliver change.
Arise – apparently named after Corbyn’s favourite poem, Shelley’s ‘Rise like Lions’ – was officially launched last week (August 27) at Victoria Hall in Harrow. The party announced plans to stand candidates in Harrow at the 2026 local elections, which take place on May 7.
At the launch, Ms Fitzpatrick accused the media of “making mischief” by questioning what the difference is between Arise and Mr Corbyn’s plan to form a new national party, currently called Your Party. It appears that Arise is a local grassroots arm of Your Party, which will “likely fold into” the national party when it is fully formed.
Addressing attendees at the launch, Ms Fitzpatrick said: “Now is the time that we come together and we get a change in Harrow. Because whether it’s Tory or Labour, have you seen any improvements in Harrow? We really haven’t.
“We will stand candidates under Arise, it’s likely that once Your Party is formed that we would fold into that. But we don’t know what the structure will be yet, so we have to wait for that.”
Mr Corbyn used the launch to talk about what the national party will prioritise, including supporting people working on low pay, illuminating poverty and discrimination and bringing water back into public ownership. He also called for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and condemned the “genocide in Gaza”.
Arise was set up by local community campaigners and residents who claim people in the borough “deserve better”. Harrow Monitoring Group – a local community organisation – attended the launch. Its coordinator, Husain Akhtar, said having more political voices and choices for the electorate “can only be good for democracy”.
Ms Fitzpatrick points to the growing housing crisis, high council taxes and a lack of public spaces for young people as motivations for starting the party. She claims residents are “fed up with unresponsive politicians” and the council is being run “for the councillors not the people”.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Ms Fitzpatrick said: “Harrow has a housing crisis where most people can no longer afford to either rent or buy a decent home. Instead they are forced into living in overpriced, insecure, poor quality accommodation in the private sector.
“Yet rather than tackle this, both Labour and Conservatives continue to insist that we have more and more tower blocks built in Harrow that most people cannot afford. Children with special education needs as young as seven are being excluded from school because of the lack of support.”
Harrow Council was approached for comment but did not respond ahead of publication. The Harrow Labour Group, which Ms Fitzpatrick was formerly a part of, told the LDRS that the concept of new political parties in the lead up to election time is “nothing new” and the group is “fully focussed on continuing to champion local issues in our communities and the areas we represent”.
Labour Group Leader, Cllr David Perry, said: “We are also more focussed on winning back the council from the current Conservative administration, whose failures of leadership and divisive cuts to public services have led to the recently downgraded Children’s Services ‘Inadequate’ Ofsted rating and with Harrow getting dirtier.
“In the months to come we will be bringing forward a suite of ideas in order to persuade residents as to why local Labour is the best choice to run the borough.”
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