Across the country, Labour seems to be losing its grip on campuses, with the University of Warwick proving to be no exception.
The University of Warwick’s Labour Society was once a leading hub for student activism, but this summer it spiralled into a chain of resignations, rebrands, and an eventual break from the party altogether.
First, Warwick Labour publicly backed Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana when she quit the party on July 8th.
Weeks later, it threw its support behind Councillor Grace Lewis as she followed suit and announced her resignation from the party on August 1st.
This was swiftly followed by the final nail in the coffin for the society: Chair Ed Swann announced he was also leaving Labour, and that the society would disaffiliate entirely, becoming a “society for all socialists, regardless of political party stances”.
In a matter of weeks, Warwick Labour rebranded twice — first as the Warwick Labour Movement, and then, after an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on August 21st, as the Warwick Left Society.
Ed admitted he mishandled the announcement, but said the rebrand was seemingly “inevitable”, The Boar reports. This was due to the society’s left-wing roots, according to both Ed and Luke Davies (Warwick Left Society Talks and Events Exec. member).
The split appeared to cause chaos: Three exec members resigned (External Campaigns Officer Josh Balabanoff, Sports Officer Cianan Sheekey, and LGBTQ+ Officer Connor Summerell), a rival Warwick Labour group was set up, and accusations over undemocratic procedures spilt into the student press.
Members of the Warwick Left Society via Instagram
“It’s become more of a campaigning group for Zarah Sultana and Grace Lewis than a Labour society,” one former exec told The Boar before the EGM took place.
The shift at Warwick seems to be part of a much broader movement. In Newcastle, Manchester and Bath, Labour societies have also voted to disaffiliate, appearing to signal a growing discontent with the national party.
Newcastle Labour Club renamed itself Newcastle Socialist Society. Nationally, membership of Labour’s youth wing has plummeted: From 100,000 to around 30,000 under Keir Starmer, according to The Newstatesman.
This decline risks far more than short-term losses. Student societies and voters carry long-term weight: They are the training grounds for the party’s future leaders. Once that pipeline is lost, the modern Labour Party risks hollowing itself out.
In a statement put out on Instagram, The Warwick Left Society cited “Labour’s complicity in the Palestinian ‘genocide’ ” as being a significant reason for the rebrand. And, according to The New Statesman, the party finally recognising Palestinian statehood is “too little, too late”, with tensions going far beyond foreign policy.
The National Union of Students’ (NUS) vice-president of liberation and equality, Saranya Thambirajah, further told The New Statesman: “Students in particular remain overwhelmingly progressive… if Labour is worried about losing young voters, it shouldn’t stray too far from its core values. To trust Labour, they need to see principles they recognise.”
To students, Labour’s attempt to rebrand itself as a credible party of government has meant shedding much of the radical, grassroots ideologies that defined the Corbyn years, alongside the general principles on which the Labour Party was built.
For some university circles, that has created a widening gulf between their lived politics and the more cautious, centrist line taken by Starmer’s leadership.
In the statement published by Warwick Left Society on September 2nd, the executive committee said the rebrand was about showing new students that the society will “remain steadfast” in its principles — from supporting minority representation in politics to advancing the socialist movement “towards a brighter future.”
At Warwick, that disconnect proved decisive. What began as expressions of solidarity with Sultana and Lewis snowballed into a decisive break with the party.
For its members, disaffiliation was not about abandoning politics but about carving out space for socialist organising outside Labour’s increasingly narrow tent — especially with a new party on the way. As Chair of the New Warwick Left Society, Ed Swann, put it: “Our principles haven’t shifted – we’ve just cut the baggage.”
Matt Western, Labour MP for Warwick and Leamington said in a statement to The Warwick Tab: “Labour changed from being a party of protest because that’s not how you deliver results for the British people. We are leading the calls at the United Nations General Assembly for Palestine to finally be recognised as a sovereign state.
“In just 12 months, this Labour government has increased the minimum and living wages for over three million workers, bringing in new employment rights that will benefit generations, set up Great British Energy – our publicly owned clean power company, as well as improving renters’ rights by providing new protections, including an end to ‘no fault’ evictions and bringing down NHS waiting times. And we are increasing student maintenance loans for the first time in many years.
“Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.”
Jeremy Corbyn and the Israeli government did not respond to requests for comment.
Featured image via Canva and @warwickleftsociety on Instagram
