John McDonnell and other senior figures dismiss plans for movement said to have secured £50m

Senior figures in the Labour party including John McDonnell have poured scorn on plans for a new centrist political party that is said to have secured £50m from financial backers, including the multimillionaire founder of LoveFilm.

The movement, spearheaded by the former Labour donor Simon Franks and revealed by the Observer, has been secretly under development for more than a year and involves entrepreneurs, philanthropists and benefactors keen to break the Westminster mould.

There has been persistent speculation about the potential for a new party as Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership has taken Labour to the left, while the Conservatives’ approach to Brexit has alienated some on that party’s modernising wing. The Liberal Democrats have so far failed to take advantage of the polarisation.

But the plans for a new centrist party were dismissed by Labour shadow cabinet members, with the shadow chancellor tweeting: “That’s a novel idea. A party of the rich, by the rich, for the rich. A party for the few not the many.”

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The shadow health secretary, Jon Ashworth, said: “For goodness sake, what a daft waste of time. Anyone putting money into this nonsense would be better off investing in our campaign to restore and rebuild our NHS.”

Jon Trickett tweeted: “A new political party with £50m in the kitty, no members, no rule book, no ideology. Perhaps with support from sections of the British Establishment. A plaything for the rich? Let’s focus on the task in hand: building a social movement which will change our country for good.”

Other Labour MPs also reacted with disdain. The MP for Norwich South, Clive Lewis, describing the new movement as an “establishment reboot job” for a “failed ideology”. Manchester Central’s Lucy Powell said: “Sounds like a bad idea, over-hyped.”

The plan was even criticised by the arch-Blairite Lord Adonis, who was among those who formed the Social Democratic party in 1981. He said: “Labour and the Labour movement is the only means to defeat Brexit and bring about a radical reforming government. Believe me, I was a founder member of the SDP: it failed and we can’t fail this time, the stakes for the country are too high”.

The movement, the latest in a line of new centrist parties but the only one to have such substantial financial backing, is understood to have been drawn up by a group frustrated by the tribal nature of politics, the polarisation caused by Brexit and the standard of political leadership on all sides.

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It appears to have a centre-left policy platform that borrows ideas from both left and right, including asking the rich to pay a fairer share of tax and better funding for the NHS, as well as ideas on wealth creation and tighter immigration controls.

Franks, a philanthropist and businessman, has set up a company, Project One Movement for the UK, which is likely to be the vehicle for the enterprise. It is unclear whether the project will concentrate on funding community activism or becoming a formal political party.



Senior figures from business and charity are understood to be involved, as well as former supporters of the main parties, including a number of former Tory donors. However, it is not yet trying to convince MPs to defect.

The project appears to be the most significant attempt yet to challenge the main parties, joining a field including the anti-Brexit party Renew and grassroots activists’ party Advance. However, Britain’s electoral system and the reluctance of existing politicians to make the jump make it difficult to succeed.