Zarah Sultana

Zarah Sultana

Author: BBC Radio 4 November 29, 2025 Duration: 15:09

The Coventry MP who left the Labour party and joined Jeremy Corbyn's new left-wing ‘Your Party'. Zarah Sultana's husband and friends tell us how her upbringing shaped her politics and reveal her questionable taste in music. 'I think she would describe her taste as no taste', claims her husband Craig Lloyd. She was born in Birmingham to political parents who were both members of the Labour party. Her father even took her on a Labour party delegation to the occupied West Bank when she was a student, an important trip that inspired her to join those campaigning for a free Palestine and she's continued campaigning ever since. Her political career hasn't always been smooth sailing, leaving the Labour party over a row about lifting the two-child benefit cap. However her friends say she is driven by something deeper than her own career aims, she's trying to reshape British politics.

Guests: Craig Lloyd, husband Sienna Rodgers, deputy editor of parliament's The House magazine Ian Byrne, Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill Georgie Robertson, friend and activist Barnaby Raine, friend and activist

Production team: Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Sally Abrahams, Mhairi MacKenzie, Phoebe Keane and Tom Farmer Production co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele Sound: Gareth Jones Editor: Justine Lang

Credits: Married At First Sight, CPL productions Ladybarn Primary School, Facebook


Each week, Profile from BBC Radio 4 takes a single name from the global conversation and builds a detailed portrait, moving far beyond the headlines. This isn't a simple biography or a news recap. Instead, through careful documentary storytelling and personal journal excerpts where available, the podcast constructs a nuanced examination of character and motive. You’ll hear from colleagues, critics, and sometimes the subjects themselves, piecing together what drives and defines the people shaping our world. The focus rests firmly on influence, whether in politics, the arts, science, or social movements, exploring how an individual's background and choices ripple through society and culture. Listening to this podcast feels like gaining a deeper, more textured understanding of the figures you think you know, revealing the contradictions and convictions behind the public image. It’s a thoughtful half-hour that challenges first impressions, asking what truly lies behind a name in the news.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Profile
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