Your Party has been hit by a new split as Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana fight for control of its executive committee.
At the founding conference in November, members voted for a collective leadership model, meaning the party will be controlled by a Central Executive Committee (CEC) rather than a single MP.
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This avoided a potentially bruising battle for the top job between Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana, who co-founded the new left-wing party in July but have since had several public disagreements.
However, the two figureheads are now backing a different set of candidates to fill the CEC, which will have 24 positions, in what insiders are describing as a “proxy war”.
Sources with knowledge of the lists describe it as a clash of both personalities and vision for what the newborn party should look like.
Many involved in Your Party believe it should be more radical than Corbynism so it has a distinctive offer from the Greens – but others fear voters will be put off by a party perceived as the “hard left” and a broad appeal is needed.
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The list endorsed by Ms Sultana has called itself the “Grassroots Left” slate and includes both her and Mr Corbyn.
However, the former Labour leader is understood to be upset about this as he had asked for his name to be taken off this slate.
He feels the inclusion of his name gives the impression that this is a unity list that he was involved with and endorses. Instead he is planning to set out his own vision for Your Party in the coming days, sources close to him told Sky News.
This will include backing a different candidate list made up of himself, community organisers, trade unionists and anti-racist activists to “reflect a broad left politics”, according to those with knowledge of the list.
A spokesperson for Mr Corbyn said: “Jeremy will be laying out his vision for Your Party in the coming days, including his ambition to help build a diverse and broad-based movement for the change this country needs.”
Economic divide
A big dividing point is on the economy. Mr Corbyn’s longstanding economic position has been to nationalise public utilities and reverse cuts to public services.
The Grassroots Left slate goes further in calling for the end of private ownership of all means of production – so that workers “own the economy democratically, not the state”, a source involved in the slate said.
Those endorsing this position feel Your Party needs to distance itself from the Greens and provide a “meaningful opposition to capitalist parties” – which they feel Mr Corbyn didn’t achieve as Labour leader as the party was “too focused” on elections and polling.
They characterised this position as being “to the left of the left” as opposed to the “hard left”.
Some members have accused the Grassroots Left group of using Mr Corbyn’s name to boost support for their vision, which they fear will not have the broad appeal required to achieve Your Party’s aims of a mass socialist movement.
However the Grassroots Left source said they endorsed Mr Corbyn as “recognition of his years of work for the British left”.
“The last thing we want is to divide the party, we want to create something that can bring us together instead of tearing us apart,” they said.
‘A left alternative to Labour’
At least two other candidates endorsed by the group haven’t officially signed up to its programme – as permission is not required to back someone for the leadership.
This includes independent Lancashire councillor Michael Lavealette, who said he was throwing his hat in the ring but was not formally part of any slate.
He told Sky News there is a “very large” group people who are looking for a left alternative to Labour and while they have “all manner of views” what unites them is investment in welfare, an end to the cost of living crisis and inequality and “peace and against war”.
He said these should be the “starting points to build a broad left that unites people and challenges Labour”.
Other figures on the Grassroots Left slate include Max Shanly, who was Deputy Director of Operations for Corbyn’s leadership campaign in 2016.
The slate says it is being backed by a “broad coalition of socialist groups, grassroots organisations and prominent left-wing figures”, and that its aim is to “shift power away from MPs and party insiders and put it back in the hands of members”.
This follows criticism that “faceless bureaucrats” close to Mr Corbyn from his time as Labour leader had too much control over the setting up of Your Party.
Ms Sultana said: “Members didn’t join to be spectators while decisions are stitched up at the top. This slate is about taking back control and building a party that fights for working people.”
There have been long-lasting tensions within Your Party after Ms Sultana launched an unauthorised membership portal in September. On Friday she called for unity, after The Information Commissioner’s Office said that it was not taking further action.
Any Your Party member can nominate themselves for the CEC, not just those who end up on the slates. The nominations deadline is this Friday, followed by an endorsement period, with a final vote happening at the end of February.
It will ultimately be up to the party’s 50,000 members to decide – and it could be that no overall vision wins, with a mix of candidates ending up on the CEC.
Once the CEC is formed, members will decide internally who should have the senior leadership positions – which will not be open to members of parliament.
