Your Party to elect new leader after Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana barred from standing
Your party will elect a new leadership by the end of February after co-founders Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana were banned from operating under new rules.
Members of the fledgling left-wing group will vote over the next two months after deciding in November to appoint a “collective” headed by a non-MP.
The second option for a traditional single leader, with Mr Corbyn and former Labor MP Ms Sultana vying to lead the new party, was rejected by a narrow margin.
Your party said the results will be announced on February 26.
However, it will not have candidates for the local elections in May and will instead support “independents from society”. The party said members in Scotland and Wales would decide on the party’s stance on the Holyrood and Senedd elections to be held later that month.
The shock result of the leadership vote at the party’s annual conference in Liverpool came after some challenged Mr Cobrin, a lifelong pro-Palestinian campaigner, and accused him of being a ‘Zionist’ for apparently supporting a two-state solution in the Middle East.
Members voted to have the party run by a committee consisting of a chairman and a vice-chairman. Lawmakers are not allowed to run for president and vice president.
In a New Year’s message published on Thursday, Mr Corbyn called on your Party’s supporters to “embrace hope and optimism, not fear, for the year ahead”. He predicted that 2026 will be “the year we put forward a radical, socialist alternative to the right-wing demagogues and establishment spokesmen who dominate 2025.”
He said his wishes for next year include “for the voices of communities to come out loud and clear at the elections in May. Your party supports socialists and community independents who challenge the government and advocate for council housing, community care and social services.”
Your party has been torn apart by internal strife and divisions almost since the announcement of the new group.
In an extraordinary move, just hours after Mr Corbyn insisted the party was united, Ms Sultana boycotted the first day of the party conference, accusing people within the organization of creating a “toxic culture” and citing a “witch hunt”.
A second member of parliament resigned before the conference even started. Iqbal Muhammad said he resigned due to “unfounded allegations and smears against me”. She had recently clashed with Ms. Sultana over her gender-critical beliefs.
His departure comes just a week after Adnan Hussain said he was withdrawing from the new party’s “steering process”, citing concerns about factionalism and “implicit bias” against Muslims.
Insiders said this two months ago: Independent He said “diplomatic efforts” were continuing to bridge differences between Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana.
It comes after she complained she was being “exposed to a sexist boys’ club” amid a dispute over the new membership system.
Pollsters say the new group poses a threat to Labor and could take significant votes away from Sir Keir Starmer’s party.
A Discover Now poll conducted in the summer revealed that your party would come in third behind Labor with 15 per cent of the vote, with Reform on 34 per cent and the Conservatives on 17 per cent.
