Opening the founding conference of ‘Your Party’ in Liverpool, the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn acknowledged ‘mistakes’, telling members: ‘We’ve got to come together’
Jeremy Corbyn has issued a plea for unity after a turbulent start to a new left-wing party he is setting up alongside ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana.
Opening the founding conference of “Your Party” in Liverpool, the former Labour leader acknowledged “mistakes”, telling members: “We’ve got to come together.
“Division and disunity will not serve the interests of the people that we want to represent.”
His comments come after the set-up of the new socialist party was hit by toxic in-fighting, including over its initial launch, a botched membership drive and threats of legal action. Two other Independent MPs, Adnan Hussain and Iqbal Mohamed, withdrew from the party’s founding process, in part due to infighting.
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But Mr Corbyn said today: “Last night here in Liverpool, we had number of events on and Zarah (Sultana) spoke at a great rally, and I very happily and proudly sent a message to that rally – and I was grateful that it was read out to that rally – of support and solidarity.”
He added: “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. So that’s the basis on which we launch the party now.”
He suggested Your Party could write a handbook for the establishment of a political party, saying others could “learn from our problems, learn from our mistakes, learn from overreaching”.
Mr Corbyn, who last addressed the main stage in Liverpool as Labour leader in 2018, said members had a “huge responsibility on ours shoulders to get this thing under way”.
He said: “To get the branches going, to get the campaigns going and contest the elections in the future. This is our opportunity and our time. We are going to seize it with both hands, build that party, build that society, and campaign forevermore for real socialism and real social justice.”
The former Labour leader called for a “membership oversight committee” to “steward” the establishment of Your Party branches, and said he wanted to see control of the party given to its members “as soon as possible”.
During the debut conference, members will also vote on an official name for the party, including the option of the current holding name “Your Party”. Other possible names include “Our Party”, “Popular Alliance”, and “For the Many”.
The party will also debate a new leadership model. Some 2,500 members have been selected to attend the event, out of a total membership that the party claims now numbers 50,000.