Chaos at Your Party as Zarah Sultana boycotts conference despite Corbyn's calls for 'unity'

The party's latest row erupted on Friday evening after it emerged members of the Socialist Workers Party had been told not to attend the conference.

It comes after Jeremy Corbyn called for unity as he opened the inaugural Your Party conference

Ms Sultana's spokesperson said: "Zarah met members outside the conference and condemned the recent expulsions. This witch hunt is indefensible. We must build a party that welcomes all socialists. She will not be entering the conference hall today."

Read more: Another blow for Corbyn and Sultana as second MP quits crisis-stricken Your Party

Speaking at the start of a two-day conference in Liverpool, the former Labour leader said the nascent left-wing party had “a unique opportunity” to found “a socialist party of mass appeal” against a “triopoly of political thinking in Parliament”.

The party’s launch has been rough to say the least, with a dispute between Ms Sultana and Mr Corbyn resulting in a botched membership launch overshadowing any actual politics.

Two other Independent MPs, Adnan Hussain and Iqbal Mohamed, withdrew from the party’s founding process, in part due to infighting.

Speaking on Saturday, Mr Corbyn suggested nascent political parties could “learn from our problems, learn from our mistakes, learn from overreaching”.

He added that, despite hosting rival events on Friday night, both he and Ms Sultana had exchanged supportive messages to be read out at those meetings.

Despite this, he refused to refer to Ms Sultana as a “friend.”

He 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.”

In his speech, Mr Corbyn also called for “public, democratic ownership” of the water industry, led a chant of “free, free Palestine” and urged party members to “campaign forevermore for real socialism and real social justice”.

Following his speech, the conference moved on to discussion of whether the party should refer to itself as “socialist”, which was quickly interrupted by a heckler.

The weekend will also see members vote on a shortlist of potential names – Your Party, Our Party, Popular Alliance and For The Many – as well as a leadership model and whether the party should back “socialist” independent candidates at the May 2026 local elections.

Some 2,500 members have been selected to attend the event, out of a total membership that the party claims now numbers 50,000.

Your Party has denied Zarah Sultana’s claims that its culture is “toxic” and her suggestion she is being pushed out.

A Your Party spokesman said: “We reject these claims. We’re focused on a democratic conference in which members can debate and vote on the big issues. That’s what Your Party is all about.”

He also said: “Zarah isn’t being pushed out, she is addressing conference tomorrow.”