The Green party’s membership has jumped by more than 1,000 people in a day after a public split between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana cast doubt on the viability of the pair’s new leftwing party.
Almost 1,400 people signed up to the Greens in the 24 hours since the bitter disagreement emerged, in which Corbyn and his allies referred Sultana to the information watchdog after claims that she started collecting membership subscriptions without authority.
The leap has helped push the Greens in England and Wales above 75,000 members, a more than 10% increase on the number of members when Zack Polanski won the contest to be their leader at the start of the month, the party said.
After his victory Polanski expressed willingness to potentially cooperate with the party being set up by Corbyn, the former Labour leader, and Sultana, who was elected as a Labour MP but now sits as an independent.
However, the Green leader has said it is impossible to know if and how that might happen given the lack of any party structure or policies. He added that the Greens already offer a political home for left-leaning voters disillusioned with Labour.
In a statement to the Guardian, Polanski said his focus was “to keep growing the Green party and to be a voice for bold leadership”.
He added: “My door is always open for conversations with Jeremy and Zarah, two people committed to making our country fairer who I really respect. But today I’m focused on what I can do towards that end, and that’s to keep growing the movement within the Green party.”
After Sultana launched a membership portal for the new party, tentatively called Your party, on Thursday, Corbyn responded angrily, describing it as a “false membership system” that collected money and data without authorisation. He said the party had referred the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office and urged supporters to cancel any payments made.
A counter-statement from Sultana said she had been frozen out by a “sexist boys’ club” inside the party. Corbyn said late on Thursday that she had not been “excluded from any discussions” and remained part of a process “rooted in inclusivity and mutual respect”.
Sources within the party said on Friday that efforts were being made on both sides to calm the mood and find a way forward, with some news likely next week.
“Emotions were running high but there is an appetite for de-escalation on both sides, and serious efforts underway to figure out what a realistic way forwards looks like,” one said.
