Jeremy Corbyn‘s new political party descended into all-out war on Saturday night after his co-founder boycotted the opening day of Your Party’s inaugural conference.
Zarah Sultana claimed there was a ‘witch-hunt’ by ‘nameless, faceless bureaucrats’ as she refused to attend the conference in protest at her allies being banned.
The row erupted hours after former Labour leader Mr Corbyn opened the Your Party conference in Liverpool with a call for ‘unity’ after months of chaos and infighting.
After claiming she had been informed by Mr Corbyn’s former chief of staff, Karie Murphy, that her allies would be denied entry to the rally, Ms Sultana staged an impromptu press conference where she raged against the ‘toxic culture that is ridden with leaks to the Press, smears, allegations and sabotage.
‘The decisions that have been made today have been undemocratic’.
Ms Sultana, a rival to Mr Corbyn for the leadership of the new party, claimed those decisions ‘have been imposed by nameless, faceless bureaucrats’.
On Saturday night, Your Party rejected claims of a ‘purge’ and labelled them ‘baseless allegations’.
However, a spokesman was unable to say who had made the decision to ban people from entering the conference.
Jeremy Corbyn’s new political party descended into all-out war on Saturday night as co-founder Zarah Sultana boycotted its first day
Mr Corbyn insisted: ‘I’m not running a witch-hunt against anybody – that is a fairly absurd thing to say.’
Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana no longer sit as Labour MPs, with Ms Sultana already describing herself as a ‘Your Party MP’, while Mr Corbyn is still listed as an independent.
The former Labour leader declined to describe Ms Sultana as a friend on Saturday, instead saying they were’colleagues in Parliament, and we obviously communicate and so on’.
Speaking before Ms Sultana announced her boycott, Mr Corbyn had hinted that he was ready to stand as leader in a contest.
He said: ‘I’m very happy to serve the party in whatever capacity they decide they want me to serve.’
The row comes ahead of an expected decision on Sunday by the conference on whether it elects a single leader or opts for a collective leadership.
But on Saturday, Ms Sultana’s allies made clear that if Mr Corbyn was anointed leader, ‘Zarah will be staying regardless’ and would ‘reserve the right’ to keep trying to influence the direction of Your Party.
Her supporters also claim she would beat Mr Corbyn in an open leadership contest.
In his opening speech on Saturday, Mr Corbyn said: ‘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.
Zarah Sultana claimed there was a ‘witch-hunt’ by ‘nameless, faceless bureaucrats’ inside the new party as she fumed that some of her allies were banned from the conference
‘I’ve had enough of top-down parties. I spent a lifetime in the Labour Party mostly fighting Labour Party bureaucracy. I don’t want to repeat that in Your Party.’
Your Party’s foundation has been dogged by toxic in-fighting and chaos, with a dispute between Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana resulting in a botched membership launch and threats of legal action.
A Your Party spokesman said : ‘We’re focused on hosting a democratic founding conference with thousands of members coming together to debate and decide the big issues.
‘This is politics outside the Westminster mould: from the ground up, not the top down.’
But one of those people complaining at being barred from the conference said he and others were being banned for supporting Ms Sultana.
Kingston councillor James Giles said he and others had been denied entry on ‘completely spurious grounds’ due to a ‘factional purge of those who support Zarah’ by Mr Corbyn’s allies.
He said: ‘This looks and feels like a coordinated purge, an attempt to silence independent voices and grassroots activists who have been supportive of Zarah’s efforts to encourage maximum member democracy.
‘And it’s being carried out by an unelected ‘interim leadership team’ who claim to be overseeing the ‘most democratic process ever’ in launching a political party.’
Meanwhile, an Independent MP involved in founding Your Party last night admitted that he once killed a dog with his bare hands.
Birmingham MP Ayoub Khan told PoliticsHome: ‘It was either a baby being mauled or restraining the dog.
‘Unfortunately, during the process, the dog lost its life.’
To add to the fledgeling party’s troubles, the conference livestream was also suspended as a heckler was expelled from the main conference room by stewards for attempting to intervene in a debate.
And one of the speakers drew jeers from the crowd after they called for Your Party to work with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in order to ‘build the broadest coalition possible’.
