Five Nottingham city councillors have quit Labour to form a new party.

Councillors Kirsty L Jones, Imran Jalil, Anwar Khan, Naim Saqab Salim and Faith Gakanje-Ajala have formed the Nottingham People’s Alliance.

The new group – described as a left-wing party built on a “progressive socialist platform” – will be Labour’s official opposition on the authority.

A sixth councillor, AJ Matsiko, is also joining the new party after resigning from the Labour group in April.

The Labour group still has a majority on Nottingham City Council, with 43 councillors, and has run the authority since 1991.

But the move means the Nottingham Independents, made up of three councillors, no longer form the opposition.

Jones, who represents Mapperley, is the Nottingham People’s Alliance’s interim leader.

She pointed to the city council’s recent cuts and a loss of trust with the national party.

Jones said: “Labour has failed my community, our city and the country. I think it is dead to be honest.

“This is the beginning of the end of the Labour party’s dominance over Nottingham.

“We are against council cuts, we want to improve the economy locally and we want to have the freedom to speak out about national and international issues which we care about.”

In response, a Labour Party source said: “Rather than focusing on delivering the promises they made to their residents who elected them under a Labour banner, this ‘alliance’ is clearly more focused on their own political ambitions.

“Labour is no longer a party of protest, it is serious, a party determined to deliver for the working people of this city. This group needs to be honest and tell voters if this is just the first step to them joining Your Party.”

Your Party is a newly formed left-wing political party in the UK, founded by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and former Labour MP Zarah Sultana.

“There’s clearly an appetite that sort of politics. Whether we will join them or not is a decision for the democracy of our party,” Jones added.

The other councillors to join the Nottingham People’s Alliance represent Bilborough, Lenton and Wollaton East, Hyson Green and Arboretum and St Ann’s.

The group added it disagreed with the way Neghat Khan was chosen as council leader last year, after the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) stepped in to oversee the process.

The new party is linked to the Broxtowe Alliance, which runs Broxtowe Borough Council.

It was formed earlier this year when 20 councillors quit Labour to join the party in January to protest at the party’s direction under Sir Keir Starmer.