Members of Jeremy Corbyn’s new left-wing project have voted today to make its temporary name “Your Party” permanent.
During a debut conference in Liverpool, which was hit by toxic internal rows, delegates cast their ballots on the party’s official name.
They included its holding name since the summer – “Your Party” – alongside other options, including “Our Party”, “Popular Alliance, and “For the Many”.
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Revealing the winner, Mr Corbyn said: “Your Party is the name of Your Party.” It came after members of the new left-wing movement voted for a committee of “ordinary members” to lead the party – rather than MPs.
Members voted in favour of the “collective” option by 51.6% compared to 48.4% who voted for a traditional single leadership model. It means neither Mr Corbyn or fellow ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana are able to run for the leadership.
Ms Sultana, who also boycotted the conference’s first day amid a row over expulsions, described the result on Sunday as “exciting”. She said: “I have fought for maximum member democracy since day one. Seeing members choose collective leadership is truly exciting.
“Together, we’re building a new socialist party — radically democratic and powered by a mass movement. This party will be led by its members not MPs. This is only the beginning.”
A Your Party spokesman said: “This vote shows that we really are doing politics differently: from the bottom-up, not the top-down.In Westminster we have a professional political class increasingly disconnected from ordinary people, serving corporations and billionaires instead of the communities they are supposed to represent.
“With a truly member-led party, we will offer something different: democratic, grassroots, accountable.”