As a Labour candidate, I know we are the real ‘new politics’ in Britain | Faiza Shaheen

I agree that British politics is broken, but the defecting MPs of TIG can’t give the country what it desperately needs

• Faiza Shaheen is Labour PPC for Chingford and Woodford Green

Why would anyone choose to enter politics right now? Brexit chaos, historically low trust in politicians and politics, hate all over social media, the ever-present establishment resistance to change and, of course, all the infighting – it’s not exactly an enticing concoction. I’ve been the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Labour party in Chingford and Woodford Green since last July and, while my new working regime is intense, I’ll let you into a secret: grassroots campaigning, and standing up for the change you believe in, is fun. I want you to join me.

The new Independent Group MPs claim they are the “new politics”. I find this ironic because I joined Labour more than two years ago, when it was at one of its lowest points in the polls precisely because I wanted to support a new politics. The Jeremy Corbyn project was unexpected and different, much like the Bernie Sanders campaign in the US. All the people who had put me off the Labour party with their incrementalism, selling out of immigrants, tacit approval of cruel welfare changes, and pro-war views, were no longer in charge. There was finally a political movement for all the policies I’d been working on, and a chance to address the gross inequalities I’d been watching get worse for years.

Related: Chuka Umunna wants 'biggest role' in new Independent Group

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