The new left-wing party in the United Kingdom, launched by former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn and MP Zarah Sultana (also ex-Labour), is holding its inaugural congress this weekend (29 and 30 November) in Liverpool. But the troubled start of political formation, in the midst of internal struggles between leaders and the bloodletting of deputies even before it was official, combined with the low polls, are not good news for Your Party (your party).
The confusion began on July 3, which according to the newspaper The Guardian became known as “terrible Thursday” (Terrible Thursday). Sultana, a 32-year-old MP elected for Coventry South, then announced that she was leaving the Labor Party – which had suspended her for supporting a policy that, interestingly, was announced this week in the Government’s new budget.
The Muslim of Pakistani origin, who belonged to the socialist Labor group, also said that she would co-lead a new party with Corbyn, aged 76.
The problem is that the former Labor leader, who already ran as an independent in the 2024 elections and later formed the Independent Alliance in the House of Representatives, did not commit to this, saying only that a new party was being considered, but that the timetable for its launch or its leadership had not yet been decided.
At the center of the internal struggle in Your Party is their personality, with Sultana being impulsive and combative, and Corbyn taking longer to make a decision after four decades of experience as an MP for Islington North.
The problems continued when they started to recruit members. Sultana complained of “sexism”, after sending a email to invite party supporters to join and give their financial support to the project.
Corbyn said after the email had not been authorized, asking people not to follow the link. Meanwhile, 800 thousand pounds had already been raised, the most recent discussion being how to transfer this money, which is in a company, to the party which will have 50 thousand members.
In the midst of all the chaos, two of the six deputies who were helping to launch the project have already left. Adnan Hussain left around 15 days ago, citing concerns over “persistent internal disputes” and the “struggle for power”, in addition to the “veiled prejudice” against Muslims within the party. Iqbal Mohamed lamented the false accusations he was subjected to throughout the process, saying that he will continue as an independent deputy, but wishing Your Party every success.
When the new party was announced, in July, 18% of voters interviewed in the YouGov poll admitted voting for him. Now, after all the confusion, only 12% would consider doing so – and of these 85% would also consider voting for the Greens. The success of this party’s new leader, Zack Polanski, who has a left-wing populist agenda that many believe is similar to Corbyn’s, contributed to the downfall of Your Party.
Congress
“In the last three months, we have done something big, bold and innovative: we built a genuinely democratic party from scratch“, said the party, in site official, about the conference. “We held assemblies and rallies in all regions” and “in these meetings Your Party came to life”, they said, with the construction of the party’s statutes, structure and program – one of the decisions, for example, is whether to identify itself as socialist or not.
“The founding Congress will be the culmination of this common project, the moment when members will debate and agree on our structures and program, and the party will be officially born”, indicated, remembering that participants were chosen in a lottery (there will be space for three thousand) and that all members can vote onlinewhether or not you are in Liverpool.
But not everything is a party. Security has been tightened at the event venue, with suspicions that there may be disturbances, including invasion of the stage by disgruntled members representing specific factions of the party. – where there is a constant risk of division.
One of the first decisions that was made was that there will be no co-leadership, as was initially plannedwith the hypothesis of a single leader being on the table (possibly, in the future, there could be a number two) or a model of collective leadership.
The origin of the decision was the constant clashes between Corbyn and Sultana, who apparently have not spoken to each other since the summer, with dialogue taking place only through allies or lawyers.
If there is only one leader, he will be elected at the end of February 2026 and will have a mandate that lasts a maximum of 21 months, while the party decides on the final structure. In the collective leadership model, the president and vice-president of the central executive committee, who must be common members, will exercise leadership of the party during the same period.