What is the UK’s new socialist Your Party, which is beset with infighting?

Rift between leaders was laid bare at inaugural conference for party cofounded by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The United Kingdom’s new left-wing political party, Your Party, cofounded by former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, has become mired in a bitter divide between its leaders.

On Saturday, Your Party cofounder Zarah Sultana said she would skip the first day of the newly formed group’s inaugural two-day conference following a serious disagreement over who could attend.

After the UK’s last general election in 2024, which the Labour Party won in a landslide following 14 years of Conservative Party rule, Corbyn and four other left-leaning independents – Shockat Adam, Adnan Hussain, Ayoub Khan and Iqbal Mohamed – formed the Independent Alliance, which focused heavily on taking a pro-Palestine position over Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Corbyn, 76, stepped down as leader of the Labour Party following yet another election defeat to the Conservatives in 2019.

Among other issues, Corbyn had long weathered accusations of anti-Semitism during his leadership of Labour, something many described as a “witch-hunt” against him and his supporters.

In 2020, the Equality and Human Rights Commission published its findings that Labour had broken the law on anti-Jewish racism. It partially blamed “serious failings” under Corbyn’s leadership of the party.

In late July this year, he announced that he would cofound a new socialist party with fellow independent MP Zarah Sultana, 32, who also became an independent after leaving Labour on July 3. Other members of the Independent Alliance also joined. The aim was to present the new party as a credible left‑wing alternative to the governing Labour Party.

In a statement at the time, Corbyn and Sultana said: “The system is rigged when the government says there is no money for the poor, but billions for war.”

The statement added that they envisioned a party “rooted in our communities, trade unions and social movements”.

What is Your Party?

“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,” Corbyn said during the inaugural conference, which took place in the northwestern English city of Liverpool and finished with a rousing rendition of Bella Ciao – an Italian antifascist folk song – by attendees.

Sultana told the Press Association news agency: “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.”

She added: “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.”

However, an unnamed spokesperson for Your Party defended the decision to bar members of the Socialist Workers Party. The spokesperson told UK media: “Members of another national political party signed up to Your Party in contravention of clearly stated membership rules – and these rules were enforced.”

Sultana attended the second day of the conference on Sunday, when she apologised for what she described as “hiccups” during the launch of the party.

However, she added, “The expulsions, bans and censorship on conference floor are unacceptable. It’s undemocratic. It’s an attack on members and on this movement.”

The fledgling party has been beset by disagreements over several issues.

In November, senior figures including Corbyn, Iqbal Mohamed, and Adnan Hussain accused Sultana of withholding more than 800,000 pounds ($1.06m) in donations made to the party when it was first announced in July.

Since the party was still in the process of being formally registered as a legal entity, the funds were temporarily collected by a private company called MoU Operations Ltd, which is controlled by Sultana.

The BBC reported on November 8 that an unnamed spokesperson for Sultana said she “is in the process of transferring all funds and data” but was conducting “essential due diligence as part of this process”.

As of mid-November, the party had received a “small portion” of the funds, according to a statement by Your Party leaders. There has not been a more recent update on the status of the remaining funds.

There was a disagreement over how the newly formed party should be led.