Zarah Sultana doesn’t invite Jeremy Corbyn to her Your Party rally on eve of convention marred by expulsions, discuss of ‘witch hunts’ and a row over what they need to be known as

Zarah Sultana declined to invite Your Party co-founder Jeremy Corbyn to a pre-conference rally on Friday, as the inaugural event was marred by expulsions, talk of ‘witch hunts’ and a row over the party’s name.

Tensions continue to simmer between the party’s main figures as two MPs quit the organisation and members of the Socialist Workers Party were forced out just hours before the start of the conference.

Sultana and Corbyn, both Independent MPs, have vowed to do what it takes to make the project work after a torrid start which saw a row over donations that ended in threats of legal action.

Despite claiming to have put their differences aside, it is understood the former Labour leader was not invited to a rally held by Sultana on Friday night.

Instead, he was due to host a separate ‘evening of politics and culture’ that coincided with her speech. He then claimed on Saturday he had ‘happily and proudly’ sent a supportive message to his co-founder’s event.

At her gathering, Sultana apologised for ‘hiccups’ in the party’s first few months and said ‘we do need to get better at working with each other’.

‘I would never forgive myself for weakening the party that we desperately need,’ she said.

‘You might have noticed a few hiccups in this process, some of that has been my fault, and for that, I am sorry, but I want you to know that my intention has always been to ensure that this clarity is led by you, the members, and not MPs.’

But she also took aim at a decision by the outfit, so far referred to as Your Party, to kick out members who also held membership to the Socialist Workers Party.

It is understood there were concerns that supporters of the SWP were planning to disrupt the conference, though Your Party sources cited their dual membership as the reason for their expulsion.

After being expelled from the party, National Secretary of the SWP Lewis Nielsen hit out at ‘an unelected clique with no democratic mandate’.

In a statement shared on social media he said the he and other SWP members had been informed by email of the decision just hours before the inaugural party conference.

‘This decision has been made by an unelected clique with no democratic mandate,’ Mr Nielsen said.

‘It is my view that the overwhelming feeling of YP members – as was made clear at the local assemblies – is that all socialists are welcome in YP, and that it can be a force that unites the left.

‘We face the threat of far right Nigel Farage entering Downing Street, with Keir Starmer’s miserable government paving the way for him.

‘Instead of building the insurgent left party we need to stop Farage, fight Starmer and stand with Palestine, those running YP have turned their focus on socialists who have been fighting to build YP on the ground.’

He added: ‘This decision should be reversed at the conference, and we should get on withy the job of uniting to build the new left party we so desperately need.’ 

Asked whether she would reinstate the membership of those who had been kicked out, and why she thought the expulsions had happened, Ms Sultana said: ‘Yes.

‘I think there is a culture of paranoia at the very top, where disagreements are seen as existential, and when you have a movement that is seeking to unite the left, bringing socialists of every stripe in, you have to allow people to be able to organise.’

She said the party should avoid ‘witch hunts’ and a ‘toxic’ culture that does not unify the left.

In a further sign that the party’s troubles are far from over, Corbyn declined to call Sultana a ‘friend’ when asked during an interview with Sky News on Saturday. He instead said she was a ‘colleague in Parliament’ with whom he ‘communicates’. 

It comes after two of the Independent MPs who had publicly pledged support for the party quit this month over ‘false smears’ and ‘veiled prejudice’.

MP for Dewsbury and Batley Iqbal Mohamed said last week he had decided to leave Your Party, citing ‘false allegations and smears against me and others’.

It came after Adnan Hussain, MP for Blackburn, announced he was exiting the outfit due to ‘persistent infighting’ and ‘veiled prejudice’ against Muslim men.

And all of this comes before the party has even decided on its official name. 

As the party’s two-day conference kicks off in Liverpool on Saturday, members will vote on a shortlist of potential names – Your Party, Our Party, Popular Alliance and For the Many – with the result to be announced by Corbyn on Sunday. 

The party will also debate whether it should, for its first two years, adopt a traditional single leader or embrace a ‘collective lay-member’ leadership model – which is supported by Sultana.

More than 2,500 members have been selected to attend the event, where supporters will also consider whether the party should back ‘socialist’ independent candidates at the May 2026 local elections.

Giving an opening address in Liverpool on Saturday, Jeremy Corbyn said it was up to his new political party to give people ‘a sense of hope’.

The former Labour leader said: ‘We have an amazing opportunity before us. Look at this hall absolutely full. Look at the people around the country that want this party to succeed.

‘Look at the hopes that so many people have, people suffering poverty, children growing up in overcrowded homes, people sleeping on the street, people bearing the brunt of racist attacks across the country, people fearful for the future.

‘They want us to succeed, and it’s up to us to develop a mass party and a force that does bring people in and give people that sense of hope. That is why we’re here, and that’s what we’re determined to do.’

He went on to call for ‘public, democratic ownership’ of the water industry, and led a chant of ‘free, free Palestine’ as he repeated accusations of a ‘genocide’ in Gaza.

Addressing the separate events held by himself and Sultana on Friday, he said: ‘Last night here in Liverpool, we had number of events on and Zarah 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.

‘I was at a poetry and music event at the Black E, and Zarah sent a message to that.

‘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.’

But even the organisation of the conference came down to the wire following a dispute Corbyn and Sultana earlier this year resulting in a botched membership launch and threats of legal action.

A row ensued after Sultana promoted a system to take payments for their new political outfit, which he disowned as an ‘unauthorised email’ and asked supporters not to give any money.

Sultana then claimed she faced a ‘sexist boys’ club’ and that she would instruct ‘specialist defamation lawyers’, though she later dropped the threat and vowed to ‘reconcile’ with Corbyn.

The former Labour leader later launched an ‘official’ membership portal – but some £800,000 had already been donated through the original link posted in July.

Senior figures in the party accused her and the firm holding the money, MOU Operations, of refusing to transfer the funds for use.

Sultana said at the time that she was working to transfer the money as soon as possible but was carrying out ‘essential due diligence as part of this process’.

A spokesman for the party insisted it was focused on ‘a positive member-led weekend’ and ‘Zarah and Jeremy are united in that vision’.

The party says it now has around 50,000 members in total.

Speaking to the New Statesman on the eve of the conference, Mr Corbyn apologised to any members who felt disappointed with the launch of the party.

‘For any misdemeanours on my part, of course I apologise, but I want to make this thing work,’ he said.

‘I’m sorry if you are at all disappointed. I hope however your wish and your determination to have a democratic, serious left voice that will challenge Reform, that will challenge austerity, challenge the Tories and so on, will be there.’

He said ‘it’s never going to be an easy road’ but ‘if we work with each other… we can achieve things’.

In a bid to set the tone on the eve of the conference, Mr Corbyn hit out at the Government for ‘creating an economy of stress and despair’.

He said mental health problems have worsened because of Labour’s failure to tackle poverty and bring down the cost of living.

‘Britain’s mental health crisis is a product of political choices taken by this government,’ he said.

‘That includes the refusal to control private rent or end the energy rip-off. That includes their war on disability and sickness benefits.

‘And it includes the failure to take real action on the climate crisis causing immense despair for young people.’