It used to be said that the old Liberal party had so few MPs that they could fit in the back of a taxi. At least they were willing to share the same vehicle. After more than five years of plotting, Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party is finally holding its first conference in Liverpool this weekend. The run-up to the event was overshadowed by not one, but two, MPs exiting the six-strong ‘Independence Alliance’ in the House of Commons. That sense of infighting and paranoia has set the stage nicely for the past 24 hours. For Zarah Sultana has announced that she is boycotting day one of the conference, in protest at the the expulsion of members of left-wing groups. Your Party organisers expelled members of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) as its rules do not permit dual membership. But a spokesperson for Sultana has branded this a ‘witch hunt’ and said she won’t be returning until her speech tomorrow.
The row highlights the two issues that have dominated Your Party in recent months. The first is the tensions between Sultana and others. The left-wing Coventry MP infuriated numerous allies of Jeremy Corbyn by unilaterally launching the party back in July. She has subsequently advanced positions which cause tension with other MPs in the Alliance. Her stalwart support for transgender rights alienated Adnan Hussain, one of the two more socially conservative independent MPs who quit the group earlier this month. ‘She [Sultana] is just too woke’, said one Corbyn ally to me earlier this month. ‘She is impossible to work with.’ This leads on to the second issue dominating Your Party: the structure of its leadership. Sultana has been advocating for what she calls ‘maximum member democracy’ and believes anyone who is a socialist should be allowed in Your Party even if they are members of other political parties. Others disagree, citing infiltration fears.
The two-day shindig in Liverpool was intended to resolve these and other issues. But rather than settle tensions, the Your Party conference only appears to have exacerbated them. ‘This is worse than the Labour right’, protested James Giles, the leader of Kingston Council independents and one of those excluded from the conference hall. He claims it is a ‘coordinated purge’ by an ‘unelected interim leadership team’ to ‘silence independent voices and grassroots activists who have been supportive of Zarah’s efforts.’ The stand off has led to various surreal flash points, including one speaker on the stage revealing that they were actually a banned SWP member. Outside the conference hall, literature has been dispersed asking ‘Is Jeremy Corbyn really an anti-Zionist?’ Organisers were simply relieved that Corbyn’s speech this afternoon was not rushed from the floor, as some feared beforehand.
The infighting and spats which have marred this conference coincide with the Green surge which Zack Polanski is currently enjoying. Polling now suggests that he is much better placed among progressive voters to benefit from the disillusionment on the left: a testament to his simple, disciplined messaging. So far there is little evidence from Liverpool that Corbyn and Sultana will be able to reverse this eclipse.
Comments