Jeremy Corbyn speaking at The Rock Tower in Tufnell Park Road

JEREMY CORBYN joined a slate of seasoned activists for a local launch of his new left-wing party in Islington on Monday, urging supporters to “help create a better world from the grassroots up”.

Nearly 500 people packed The Rock Tower in Tufnell Park Road to discuss the vision for Your Party – the place­holder name of the party Mr Corbyn founded with Zarah Sultana and other independent MPs in July.

In some ways it was what you might expect from an evening with the Islington North MP – jokes at the tea station about the equitable sharing of biscuits, “Corbyn for the people” T-shirts, and a top raffle prize of his homemade jam.

But it also made clear that Your Party will be a political project beyond Mr Corbyn’s celebrity, as he shared the stage with local independent councillors, academic and local parent Reem Abou-El-Fadl, anti-racist campaigner David Rosenberg, and other long-time Islington activists.

“Your Party is about democracy,” said Mr Corbyn. “It’s about grassroots. It’s about inclusion, it’s about campaigning, it’s above all about imagination, about building a world fit for the next generation.”

He rattled through the “many battles” won by campaigners in Islington over the years – against the widening of the Archway Road, against the closure of the Whittington’s A&E, against the decommissioning of the number 4 bus.

A large turnout listens to Mr Corbyn and other speakers

And while Your Party’s founding documents are still in the works, he also shared his hopes for rent controls, public control of water, energy and the NHS, and a future for Palestine decided not by “our arrogant colonial minds” but by the Palestinian people.

Independent Islington councillors Ilkay Cinko-Oner and Phil Graham – both formerly in the Labour Party – indicated they will stand as Your Party candidates in May’s local elections once the party is formally established.

Cllr Graham said: “A lot of people on the left have been screaming for a proper left party for a long time, because Starmer’s never going to be a left wing leader.”

He added: “Labour decided they don’t want to be Labour any more. They came to power with a massive majority and they’ve done a few good things, but it’s all tinkering.”

Before leaving Labour, he was on his third suspension from the party for calling Praful Nargund, Labour’s general election candidate in Islington North, “a scab on the front page of the Tribune”, Cllr Graham told the audience, to a round of applause.

Academic and Islington mother Ms About-El-Fadl also spoke at the launch. Your Party must expose the “greed and criminality of those in power”, while promoting a “credible alternative” that centres rights and justice, she said, adding: “The Labour Party has become an undemocratic organisation with top down diktats to MPs and members, and with a flag waving narrative that moves the centre further right every day.”

Ilkay Cinko-Oner and Phil Graham look set to stand next May as Your Party candidates

Mr Rosenberg similarly flagged the urgency of fighting back against the rise of right wing populism.

He said: “Two words that always go together are poverty and fascism. Fascism deliberately offers false and crude answers to people genuinely struggling, promises to restore people’s pride in themselves, offers them a flag and someone to hate in place of food, a secure job and proper housing.”

NHS campaigner Shirley Franklin; housing campaigner Morag Gillie; Islington Stand Up To Racism’s Paul Holborrow and former Islington North Labour chair Alison McGarry were among other local activists who also had turns on the mic.

Your Party has already seen its fair share of controversy, with a public spat between Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana on social media in September.

Monday evening’s Islington launch had its own moments of drama. Towards the end of the meeting, one man asked loudly why attendees had not yet been given the chance to speak and, in the moment for public questions, another audience member took the microphone to say that some of Mr Corbyn’s “actions and words in regards to Palestine” reveal him to be “in alliance with British imperialism”.This got a mixed reception – there were chants of “off, off, off!” – and she refused to relinquish the mic before being shepherded from the hall.

But speaking to the Tribune afterwards, Mr Corbyn remained optimistic.

“Three people turned up tonight and behaved appallingly. That happens in life, unfortunately. And the people that turn up and are just rude, they got an answer from the rest of the audience,” he said.

“50,000 people have signed up for Your Party. We’ve got the conference going ahead in November. There is intense debate going on in all of the local organisations and local meetings. That’s not a bad thing, it’s actually a very good thing, and I’m happy it all came together very well.”