Who are the seven UK lawmakers in the Independent Group?

Seven members of Parliament have resigned from the U.K. Labour Party in protest at the party’s position on Brexit and ongoing allegations of antisemitism within party ranks. Unveiling a new independent grouping at a London event on Monday, the seven had harsh words for Labour, its leader Jeremy Corbyn, and British politics in general.

Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger said the party was "institutionally antisemitic,” while her colleague Chuka Umunna described Brexit as a "national catastrophe” and said "we want no part in facilitating the disaster.”

Here’s a quick rundown of who the seven Independent Group members are.

Chuka Umunna

Once touted as a future Labour leader, Umunna is MP for Streatham in south London and has long been a critic of Jeremy Corbyn’s policy of hedging his bets on Brexit. Umunna favors a second referendum on leaving the EU.

His speech on Monday morning made it clear that he wants to build a new mass movement to counter established politics. "The established parties are simply not up to the challenge, they can’t be the change because they have become the problem.” @ChukaUmunna

Luciana Berger

Berger, the MP for Liverpool Wavertree since 2010, has been at the center of allegations of antisemitism against Corbyn and his supporters.

A former director of Labour Friends of Israel, Berger has been subjected to antisemitic abuse on and offline, and had to employ a bodyguard to accompany her to the party’s annual conference last year.

"I’m leaving a culture of bigotry, bullying and intimidation,” she said at the launch event. @lucianaberger

Mike Gapes

Gapes, who is MP for the Essex seat of Ilford South, is an outspoken critic of Corbyn’s foreign policy and has been involved in furious arguments on Twitter with the Labour leader’s supporters.

A liberal interventionist, he used to head Labour’s international section and said "Jeremy Corbyn and those around him are on the wrong side in so many international issues.” @MikeGapes

Gavin Shuker

Shuker, the MP for Luton South, to the north west of London, is not as well known as some of the others, but has been one of the prime movers in the breakaway.

He has been talking for months with colleagues about the best way to split and its timing. He favored setting up an independent group and building a movement rather than trying to start a new party from scratch. @gavinshuker

Chris Leslie

A former economy spokesman under previous Labour leader Ed Miliband, Leslie has made it clear in interventions over the past months that he has lost patience with the Labour leadership’s refusal to back a second referendum on Brexit.

The MP for Nottingham East said that Labour has been "hijacked by the machine politics of the hard left” and its equivocal position on Brexit is a "fundamental violation of Labour’s traditional values.”

Angela Smith

Smith has become a hate figure for Corbyn’s online supporters, who have heaped abuse on the Penistone & Stocksbridge lawmaker since she questioned the leadership’s policy on renationalizing the water industry.

They have accused her of being in the pocket of industry lobbyists and threatened to deselect her from her seat. She made a point of spelling out her Labour heritage at Monday’s meeting.

"We don’t think that any of the major political parties are fit for power,” she said.

Ann Coffey

The lowest profile of the seven MPs at Monday’s announcement, Coffey has been MP for Stockport, in Greater Manchester, since 1992.

She was a junior Treasury minister in Gordon Brown’s government and was one of those who proposed a motion of no-confidence in Corbyn in the aftermath of the EU referendum campaign. The leader was eventually re-elected in a ballot of party members and led Labour into the 2017 general election.

What was the reaction?

Jeremy Corbyn issued a statement expressing his disappointment at the group’s decision to leave the party. Other sitting MPs wrote of their sadness at their colleagues’ resignation.