It’s the moment British politics has been waiting for: Your Party’s conference begins in Liverpool tomorrow morning. As has been well documented by the New Statesman, getting to this point has been torturous, full of false starts, fall-outs and furious posts on X.
As of Thursday evening, the party had yet to publicly release the full schedule for the two-day event in which its name, leadership structures and constitution will be decided, and where its co-founders – Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn – will have an opportunity to flex their muscles. Both MPs are holding rival events this evening (Friday 28 November); Corbyn – who is hosting an evening of politics and culture – was reportedly not invited to Sultana’s rally.
Corbyn will kick off proceedings, speaking to members on Saturday morning (29 November). The two remaining members of the Independent Alliance (Ayoub Khan and Shockat Adam) as well as Sultana will speak later in the conference. In the weeks prior to the event, a vicious briefing war between Team Sultana and the wider Your Party team had ensued. A story in The Times on 18 November claimed the MP for Coventry South was not on speaking terms with the conference organisers; sources close to Sultana claimed she had been excluded from the entire process.
A spokesperson for Sultana said: “As a co-founder of Your Party, Zarah will be addressing the founding conference as members expect. She’s fighting for maximum member democracy and is confident the movement will not accept any attempt to exclude or sabotage her”. But so close to the conference, the tension seems to have mellowed. On Thursday, a source close to Sultana told the New Statesman that she and Corbyn are on speaking terms.
Even if the party’s co-founders have made amends, resentment and disagreement within the wider movement is still bubbling. A week before the conference, it was reported that conference organisers are concerned about a potential infiltration by fringe groups who could “storm the stage”. There is concern that this could be led by members of the Socialist Workers Party and the Socialist Party. Both are technically not allowed at conference; members must agree to avow membership of any alternative parties (although the general secretary of the SWP will speak at Sultana’s rally on Friday night). Conference organisers remain concerned, however, that there could still be disruption caused by those affiliated to them.
One of the ways this could happen is through motions introduced on the conference floor. On Tuesday, the party announced that under draft guidance members will be asked to choose between a single leadership model or a collective leadership model, ruling out co-leadership. Rumours have emerged that Counterfire – a Marxist and revolutionary socialist group, alongside the SWP – plan to propose an emergency motion to set up a new 11-person Your Party leadership team as soon as the conference begins on Saturday morning. The Democratic Socialists for Your Party, a group which is close to Sultana, have also made clear they plan to push for the demands of their political statement which include the abolition of the monarch and MPs salaries being set to the median wage.
By the end of the weekend, if things go to plan, Your Party will have a new, official name. Options floated behind the scenes have been the Left Party, the People’s Party or even sticking with Your Party (as one insider suggested to me, is Corbyn’s preference). Members will make a decision this weekend. It will also have a confirmed leadership structure. If members opt for a single leadership model, elections will take place in the first few months of next year: both Corbyn and Sultana have suggested they plan to throw their hats into the ring.
All of this tension is proving increasingly damaging to Your Party’s popularity with its target voters. According to a recent YouGov poll, 12 per cent of Britons would consider voting for Your Party, down from 18 per cent when the party was launched in July. If this conference goes to plan, Your Party will have an agreed structure. But it will also face an uphill battle, both to rebuild its electoral coalition and prove to the electorate that after all the psychodrama and chaos, it is a serious political force and worthy enough for voters to get behind it.
This piece first appeared in the Morning Call newsletter; receive it every morning by subscribing on Substack here
[Further reading: The cruelty of Kemi Badenoch’s “Benefits Street” politics]
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