The debut Your Party conference has deteriorated into chaos, as Zarah Sultana has slammed the party’s “toxic culture” despite Jeremy Corbyn’s plea for unity.
Ms Sultana, the former Labour MP, refused to enter the party’s inaugural conference centre in Liverpool, amid claims the party was embarking on a “witch hunt” after one of her allies, James Giles, was reportedly refused entry.
Ms Sultana expressed feeling “disappointed” that people had been removed from the party amid allegations of their membership of the Socialist Workers Party.
When these claims were put to Your Party, they categorically denied a “purge” of members, saying those who had been pushed out had broken “clearly stated membership rules” of being members of more than one party.
Ms Sultana told the Press Association: “I’m disappointed to see on the morning of our founding conference, people who have travelled from all over the country, spent a lot of money on their train fare, on hotels, on being able to participate in this conference, being told that they have been expelled.
“That is a culture that is reminiscent of the Labour Party,how there were witch hunts on the eve of conference, how members were treated with contempt.”
She insisted she refused to be “pushed out” of Your Party, maintaining “We need to establish the party have democracy at the very heart of it.”
The MP for Coventry South went on: “We absolutely have to work together.
“But what we have to get rid of is this toxic culture of leaks to the right-wing press, of legal threats, of bullying, intimidation and acts of sabotage like what I experienced before I went on BBC Question Time.
“It is all symptomatic of a group of people who are operating with paranoia and an obsession with control, and what I’m here to do is defend member democracy.”
The conference was kicked off with an address from Jeremy Corbyn, urging for unity in his party, as well as acknowledging that there had been “mistakes” in the setting up of the party.
The former Labour leader was referring to the alleged rift between himself and Ms Sultana, a failed membership launch and potential legal challenges.
Two other MPs, Independent Adnan Hussain and Iqbal Mohamed, also pulled out of the party’s early days due to similar infighting.
The conference is expected to see members vote on a potential name (amongst the shortlisted titles are Your Party, Our Party, Popular Alliance and For The Many), plans to structure a leadership model and a discussion of whether the party should support “socialist” independent candidates at the upcoming local elections in May 2026.
Ms Sultana pointed out that it was “undemocratic” that the name she put forward - the “Left Party” was not being given as an option.
She also added that despite her clearly expressed preference for shared leadership, she would back Mr Corbyn if he were elected leader.
She told PA: “I supported a co-leadership structure. Unfortunately, a nameless, faceless bureaucrat decided the members weren’t allowed to even vote on that option.
“Interestingly, I also supported the ‘Left Party’ as being one of the names for the party that I supported, and that hasn’t also been included as an option for members, which actually is an undemocratic move.
“If the membership chooses a sole leader, despite my strong advocacy for collective leadership, I will support that.
“If Jeremy is elected by the members, I will, of course, support that.”
Mr Corbyn said at the start of the weekend that the new party had stumbled upon “a unique opportunity” to found “a socialist party of mass appeal” against a “triopoly of political thinking in Parliament”.
He claimed that Your Party could create a playbook for the establishment of a political party, and that others could “learn from our problems, learn from our mistakes, learn from overreaching”.
He also said that despite holding rival events on Friday night, both he and Ms Sultana had sent supportive messages to one another to be shared at meetings.
Mr Corbyn added: “As a party, we’ve got to come together and be united, because division and disunity will not serve the interests of the people that we want to represent.”
During his speech, he called for “public, democratic ownership” of the water industry, led a chant in support of Palestine, and urged party members to “campaign forevermore for real socialism and real social justice”.
After his speech concluded, the conference began discussing whether the party should identify as “socialist”, which was then interrupted by a heckler.
Around 2,500 party members have been awarded entry to the conference, out of a reported 50,000 total members - the party claims.
Some 2,500 members have been selected to attend the event, out of a total membership that the party claims now numbers 50,000.
