Sultana in £880k Your Party donation spat
Zarah Sultana is in a standoff with Your Party founder Jeremy Corbyn over the transferral of £880k,000 of party donations.
Jeremy Corbyn's Your Party are in a stand-off over more than £800,000 of party donations held by co-founder Zarah Sultana.
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The money reportedly came from the initial wave of donations following announcement of the new left-wing group, Your Party, back in July.
While the group was being officially registered, donations were formally collected by MoU Operations Ltd - an organisation now fun by Zarah Sultana MP.
Despite promises from the MP to transfer the money, senior Your Party figures have now accused her of withholding the funds.
A spokesman for Sultana said the MP was "in the process" of transferring the donations, along with all relevant information, but was first completing the "essential due diligence" required of the process.
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MoU was set up in April as a temporary holding company. The plan appears to have been to transfer the money from the company following the party's registration with the Electoral Commission on September 30, and the close then company. Neither appear to have occurred.
The holdup has sparked frustration from younger voters, who say the funding is essential for the party's founding conference later this month.
A party source has reportedly said they would likely be "forced to reduce delegate numbers" at the event as consequence of the funding holdup.
The establishment of the holding company was required due to the organisation lacking a legal structure. This system allowed Your Party capitalise on the surge of donations at the party founding announcement. It was proposed as a temporary measure.
Last week, the founding board of MoU, which included former Labour mayor of North of Tyne Combined Authority Jamie Driscoll, resigned en masse - making Sultana the de facto sole director. In a joint resignation statement, the three directors insisted they wanted to transfer the funds but were prevented from doing so by Your Party officials, who had ignored questions about governance and legal liabilities.
Officials claimed they sent multiple proposals to move the funds, but were ignored by MoU.
Your Party officials have dismissed the complaints as irrelevant.
A Your Party spokesman said: "We are focused on delivering a successful founding conference for our members.
"While this task is made considerably harder by the continued retention of Your Party funds by MOU Operations Ltd, we will not allow anything or anyone to stop this party from going ahead.
"Working-class people need a party which stands up for them."
This the latest in a scheme of disputes since the establishment of Your Party, including an ongoing dispute over the group's name between co-founders Sultana and Corbyn.
The paid had a particularly notable spat in September over the membership portal, with Sultana calling the party a "sexist boys club". Both sides threatened to take legal action, although later backed down from the claims.
In the face of the new allegations, a spokesman for Sultana said: "Zarah is in the process of transferring all funds and data to Your Party, as she has already made clear publicly.
"Obviously, she has a duty to conduct essential due diligence as part of this process."
The first Your Party conference is expected in Liverpool on 29 November.