Crisis-hit Your Party has ruled out having co-leaders, following a series of public spats between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.
At the party’s founding conference in Liverpool this weekend, members will vote on a new leadership model for the party, with options including a “collective leadership model” or backing a single leader.
But in the longer term, Your Party could look to bring back the option of co-leaders, with a member-led review of leadership structures exploring options of deputy leadership, co-leadership and the relationship with the party’s leadership in Wales and Scotland once the party has been established in each nation.
The decision to rule out co-leadership in the short term comes after a turbulent first few months for the party, marred by internal division, with a dispute between Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana resulting in a botched membership launch and threats of legal action.
Ms Sultana complained she had been subjected to a “sexist boys’ club” after supporters were invited to officially sign up and give the party financial backing.
But Mr Corbyn described this as an “unauthorised email” and just hours later warned people in a statement posted on social media not to sign up via the link.
The former Labour leader and Independent MP for Islington North at the time said that “legal advice is being taken” over the message.
And to make matters worse for the party, two of the MPs who helped to set up the outfit have now quit.
Under the single leader model, one leader will be elected by the end of February 2026 for a period of no more than 21 months, while the party decides on its permanent leadership structure.
Under the collective leadership model, the chair and deputy chair of the central executive committee, who must be ordinary members, will provide the party’s leadership for the same period.
Last week, Iqbal Mohamed said in a statement that he had decided to leave Your Party and continue to serve his Dewsbury and Batley constituency as an Independent MP.
It comes after MP Adnan Hussain said earlier this month he was withdrawing from the party’s “steering process”, citing concerns about factionalism and “veiled prejudice” against Muslims.
They had been among the six MPs helping to set up the party, alongside Mr Corbyn, Ms Sultana and independents Shockat Adam and Ayoub Khan.
Blackburn MP Mr Hussain said earlier this month that he had initially agreed to support the foundation of Your Party because he believed in “building a political home with mass appeal” and “a force capable of challenging the rise of far-right rhetoric”.
But in a statement published on X (Twitter), he said he had been disillusioned by “persistent infighting, factional competition, and a struggle for power, position and influence rather than a shared commitment to the common good”.
This week’s conference – which will include speeches from both Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana – will see members invited to vote on the party’s name, with the options to be revealed later this week.
There will also be political debates around the party’s identity, including whether it should explicitly identify as socialist.
A Your Party spokesperson said: “The mainstream parties are failing us because they are run by and for billionaires and corporations, not ordinary people.
“Your Party will be different, relentlessly accountable to its members and the communities we strive to represent.
“Our founding conference will be a festival of democracy, showing how we can build a real alternative to a broken Westminster model.”
