The election of a new mayor in New York city is rarely big news in the UK, but Zohran Mamdani’s victory is generating a lot of attention, particularly on the left of British politics.

“This is what socialist representation looks like,” posted a jubilant Zarah Sultana, alongside a picture of her with Mamdani.

The former Labour MP is in the process of forming a new left-wing party with Jeremy Corbyn, who will also be celebrating the 34-year-old Democratic Socialist’s victory.

Corbyn, a former Labour leader, hosted a phone bank on Sunday evening to “get the vote out” for Mamdani, posing with a “North London 4 Zohran” Arsenal football shirt. The two are both fans of the club.

Mamdani’s policies, such taxing the rich, universal free childcare and freezing rents, are in tune with Corbyn and Sultana’s brand of socialism and he shares a record of pro-Palestinian activism with his British allies.

But the fact that Mamdani took on and beat the centrist old guard in his own party, defeating Andrew Cuomo, a former Democratic New York governor, who was forced to run as independent, will also be a morale boost for left-wingers no longer welcome in the Labour fold.

In a statement Your Party – the holding name for the new Corbyn and Sultana party – said: “Zohran’s historic victory demonstrates that the old politics of the centre is bankrupt and a new socialist politics can take its place.”

They added: “We will build that politics and that alternative here in Britain, too.”

Green Party leader Zack Polanski was also quick to celebrate Mamdani’s victory and did not hesitate to encourage comparisons with himself, saying he would adopt the “the same relentless focus on inequality”.

Polanski’s attention-grabbing brand of “eco-populism” has boosted his party to record membership levels and he has signalled his willingness to work with Corbyn and Sultana when their new party gets off the ground.

Senior Labour Party figures have been more muted in their reaction.

Labour’s three-term London mayor Sadiq Khan, who shares Mamdani’s Muslim faith and like him has been on the receiving end of attacks from Donald Trump, was clearly delighted.

“New Yorkers faced a clear choice – between hope and fear – and just like we’ve seen in London hope won,” he said on social media.

But Labour cabinet ministers – with the exception of Health Secretary Wes Streeting – have not been clamouring to congratulate the newly-elected New York mayor.

Writing on X, Streeting, who is said to harbour leadership ambitions, wrote that Mamdani’s campaign had been “inspirational” and that there were “lessons for progressives the world over”.

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, adopted a different tone. Asked by Sky News whether she liked Mamdani, she replied: “I’ll be honest, I don’t follow American politics especially closely.”

Sarah Smith, a backbench Labour MP who was elected in 2024, told the BBC’s Politics Live Mamdani’s election “brings real hope to progressive politicians like myself”.

But she said it was also a sign of “just how volatile the politics of today are” and that he now faced “some real challenges” to deliver on what he has said he will do and keep businesses on side.

Reaction on the right of British politics has been even more muted.

Conservative peer Baroness Warsi, the first Muslim women to sit in a British cabinet, posted that it was “a fantastic moment we can all celebrate whatever our politics, left or right”.

“Hope won there and it can win here. Many, many congratulations to a young man who despite all the attacks remained unapologetically himself.”

But Warsi has become increasingly detached from the Conservative Party since leaving frontline politics.

A scathing take-down of Mamdani’s policies and background in The Spectator magazine may be closer to the views of the average Tory MP, who have a tribal aversion to socialism in all its forms.

The piece, by conservative commentator Heather Mac Donald, denounces Mamdani as an “overgrown college student,” whose policies will “destroy” New York.

It’s always dangerous to read too much across from US politics to UK politics – they have very different electoral systems and traditions.

And some have clearly already had their fill of Mamdani fever.

One influential Labour figure said: “I’ll tell you what, I cannot be doing with all the takes we’ll get on this New York mayor and what it means for the Labour Party.”

Some will also see the election of more traditional Democrats as governors in New Jersey and Virginia by comfortable margins as a more significant sign of where US politics is heading as mid-term elections approach.

But for British left-wingers seeking a source of inspiration – a sign that is possible to win big with an explicitly socialist platform allied to a slick, social media savvy campaign – right now Mamdani is hard to beat.