The United Kingdom’s new left-wing political party, Your Party, co-founded by former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, is embroiled in a bitter split among its leaders.
Zarah Sultana, co-founder of Your Party on Saturday, said she would Skip the first day After a serious disagreement over who could attend the newly formed group’s inaugural two-day conference.
what is your party
After the last UK general election in 2024, in which Labor won a landslide victory after 14 years of Conservative Party rule, Corbyn and four other left-leaning independents – Shawkat Adam, Adnan Hussain, Ayub Khan and Iqbal Mohammed – formed an independent coalition, which focused heavily on taking a pro-Palestinian position on Israel’s Waridoqja.
Corbyn, 76, stepped down as leader of the Labor Party in 2019 after losing a second election to the Conservatives.
Among other problems, Corbyn had suffered for a long time Accusations of anti-Semitism During his Labor leadership, many described a “witch-hunt” against him and his supporters.
In 2020, the Equality and Human Rights Commission published its findings that Labor had broken the law on anti-Semitic racism. The party’s “serious failure” under Corbyn’s leadership was partly to blame.
In response, Corbyn said anti-Semitism was “absolutely abhorrent”, but added: “The scale of the problem has been dramatically exaggerated by our opponents both inside and outside the party, as well as by the media for largely political reasons.”
So he was summarily suspended from the party. He was readmitted in 2020, but finally left Labor altogether in 2024 – after almost 60 years of membership – to become an independent MP.
In late July this year, he announced that he was a New Socialist Party Fellow independent MP Zarah Sultana, 32, who became an independent on July 3 after quitting Labour. Other members of the Independent Alliance also joined. The aim was to present the new party as a credible left-wing alternative to the ruling Labor 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 said he envisioned a party “rooted in our communities, trade unions and social movements”.
“As a party, we must come together and unite because division and division will not serve the interests of the people we seek to represent,” Corbyn said at the inaugural conference, which took place in the northwest English city of Liverpool and was sung by Bella Ciao – an Italian antifascist folk song – in attendance.
Why did Sultana refuse to attend on the first day?
Sultana announced on Saturday that she would not attend to protest that one of her supporters was denied entry to the event and several others were expelled from the party for allegedly being members of the leftist Socialist Workers Party.
Sultana told the Press Association news agency: “I am disappointed to see on the morning of our founding conference that people who have traveled all over the country, spent a lot of money on train fares, hotels, to attend this conference, have been kicked out.
She added: “It’s a culture reminiscent of the Labor Party, how witch hunts are held on the eve of conference, how members are treated with contempt.”
However, an unnamed spokesperson for Your Party defended the decision to ban members of the Socialist Workers Party. A spokesman told UK media: “Members of another national political party signed up to your party in breach of clearly stated membership rules – and these rules were enforced.”
Sultana was present on the second day of the conference on Sunday, when she apologized for what she described as a “hiccup” during the launch of the party.
However, she added, “Expulsion, banning and censorship on the floor of the conference is unacceptable. It is undemocratic. It is an attack on members and on this movement.”
What else are the leaders at odds over?
The fledgling party has been plagued by differences on several issues.
funds
In November, senior figures including Corbyn, Iqbal Mohammed and Adnan Hussain alleged that Sultana withheld 800,000 pounds ($1.06m) in donations first made to the party in July.
As the party was in the process of being formally registered as a legal entity, the funds were temporarily collected by a private company called MoU Operations Limited, controlled by the Sultan.
The BBC reported on 8 November that an anonymous spokesperson for the Sultana said she was “in the process of transferring all funds and data” but was conducting “the necessary due diligence as part of this process”.
According to a statement by your party leaders, by mid-November, the party had received a “small portion” of the funds. There has been no more recent update on the status of the remaining funds.
leadership model
There was disagreement over how to lead the newly formed party.
While Sultana was pushing for a group of leaders to reflect grassroots representation – what she called “maximum member democracy” – Corbyn said a single, traditional leader would be more effective.
In the end, the party voted for a group of leaders by a narrow margin of 51.6 percent to 48.4 percent.
This means that the party will now be led by a group of leaders, overseen by a party member who is not a member of parliament.
Ultimately, many see the problems besetting the party as a battle for control between Corbyn and Sultana.
Corbyn’s supporters were angered by the Sultan’s decision to hold a pre-conference rally the night before the conference began, British media reported. She called it your party event, but he claimed it was only organized by her.
Abandon the party
Several members of the new party, including some sitting MPs, have already resigned as Corbyn’s supporters accuse him of trying to undermine Sultana and vice versa. On 14 November, Adnan Hussain, MP for Blackburn, announced in the X Post that he had decided to quit.
Hussain wrote in a statement, “The culture around the party has become dominated by constant bickering, factionalism and the struggle for power, position and influence rather than a shared commitment to the common good.
“Instead of openness, cooperation and an outward focus, the environment has often felt toxic, exclusionary and downright depressing,” he added.
After much thought, I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from your party’s steering process.
I wish all the best to those who continue to work in this endeavor and hope that their hard work will yield the desired results. pic.twitter.com/zz4EevEIzu
— Adnan Hussain MP (@AdnanHussainMP) 14 November 2025
A week later, Dewsbury and Batli MP Iqbal Mohammed also announced his departure.
In a statement posted on X on November 21, Mohammed said: “The many false accusations and smears made against me and others, and reported as facts without evidence, are surprising and disappointing. However, I believe that my colleagues and I have acted entirely professionally, with restraint and in good faith.”
My statement about quitting your party. pic.twitter.com/NsoNLHU7xI
— Iqbal Mohammad MP (@iqbalmohamedMP) 21 November 2025