After two days of discord and division, Your Party has voted and it finally has a name – Your Party. This afternoon, 37 per cent of members chose to keep the party’s existing title rather than select one of the three alternatives: Popular Alliance, For The Many or Our Party. This marked one of the few highlights from the party’s inaugural conference in Liverpool. It otherwise proved to be an acrimonious affair in which the tensions between Jeremy Corbyn, Zarah Sultana and their respective allies have been on display for all to see.
Clearly it is the Green party leader who will dominate the British left for the near future
Membership rules and the leadership question were the two issues that dominated the conference hall this weekend. On both of these, team Sultana proved triumphant. First, an overwhelming 69.2 per cent of members backed dual membership for Your Party, allowing members to remain in other left-wing groups. Then came a much tighter vote on the party’s leadership, with 51.6 per cent supporting Sultana’s proposal for a collective approach. A panel of members will now lead Your Party, with Corbyn, Sultana and other MPs barred from being the chair or deputy chair until 2027.
Having boycotted the conference in protest yesterday, Sultana received a standing ovation when she finally spoke in the hall this afternoon. She criticised organisers, attacking ‘the expulsions, the bans, the censorship on conference floor’ as ‘unacceptable’. There was visible irritation on Corbyn’s face as Sultana accused some at the top of Your Party of ‘Labour 2.0’ behaviour. She did apologise and accept ‘fault’ for recent ‘hiccups’. But it was notable that, while she praised Corbyn for giving ‘us hope’ as Labour leader, Sultana was keen to stress that ‘now we are building something new.’
The failure to carry the room on key votes will lead to questions about whether Team Corbyn overplayed their hand and mishandled the conference. For some commentators, this weekend offered potential evidence that the Islington North MP’s star is on the wane, with Corbyn receiving a more muted reception yesterday than that enjoyed by Sultana today. The ex-Labour leader did his best to put on a brave face this afternoon. Wrapping up the conference, he thanked attendees for a ‘wonderful weekend’ but acknowledged ‘all the frustrations’ during Your Party’s establishment.
Those frustrations are likely to only intensify in the near-future. Some organisers will tonight be relieved that a name, constitution and leadership structure have finally been chosen. But, in voting for a collective leadership that can allow members of rival groups to join it, Your Party has paved the way for maximum infighting in the months and years ahead. That runs the risk of repelling enthused members, who do not wish to partake in rancour and recriminations.
After two days in Liverpool, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the real winner of the Your Party conference is Zack Polanski. The Greens decided this summer to ditch their co-leadership model and hand power to Polanski, awarding him an authoritative win with almost 85 per cent of the vote. It is a choice that has paid off handsomely, with his party now on 17 per cent in a recent poll.
Your Party’s decision to reject the Greens’ approach and instead allow just 9,000 of its members to narrowly back a committee means that it is Polanski, not Corbyn or Sultana, who is likely to dominate the British left for the near future.
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