Corbyn and Sultana at war over £55 memberships, sexism claims and control of party funds

A political project hailed just weeks ago as a fresh challenge to Britain’s establishment is already tearing itself apart. Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, once joint architects of the new left-wing venture, clashed publicly on Thursday in a bitter row over sexism, money and power.

The quarrel burst into the open after supporters of Your Party—the group’s working title—received an email inviting them to pay £55 for membership. Within hours, the former Labour leader disowned the appeal, branding it “unauthorised” and threatening legal action. The party referred the case to the Information Commissioner’s Office, raising the spectre of data misuse, fraud and even police involvement.

Sultana, however, hit back ferociously. She claimed the membership site had been launched “in line with the road map” agreed by party officials and insisted that all funds were secure. She boasted that more than 20,000 people had already signed up in a single morning—potentially raising over £1 million for the fledgling movement.

In a searing statement, the Coventry South MP accused Corbyn and his allies of running the party as a “sexist boys’ club”, excluding women from key decision-making roles. “I have been treated appallingly and excluded completely,” she declared. “They have refused to allow any other women with voting rights on the Working Group, blocking the gender-balanced committee that both Jeremy and I signed up to.”

The timing of her outburst was remarkable. Just hours earlier, Corbyn had issued a joint statement with four Independent Alliance MPs—Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, Iqbal Mohamed and Shockat Adam—warning members to ignore the rogue email and cancel any direct debits. Sultana’s name was conspicuously missing from the list of signatories.

The row goes deeper than an email. Sultana accused long-time Corbyn ally Karie Murphy of being handed “sole financial control of members’ money and sole constitutional control over our conference”. She demanded that Corbyn publish the full party structure immediately, arguing that only transparency could “restore hope for our members and ensure nothing like this can ever happen again”.

Corbyn’s camp dismissed the allegations. Your Party said Murphy had “no access to or control of any funds”, describing her as a “trusted and dedicated volunteer”.

But the public bust-up has already shaken grassroots supporters. On social media, angry activists voiced dismay that the party seemed to be collapsing before it had even been named. Left-wing commentator Owen Jones, one of its most prominent backers, warned: “If this split drags on, people will switch off and just bet everything on the Greens.”

The tension is only the latest sign of chaos at the top. Sultana shocked colleagues in July when she announced she was leaving Labour to launch a new party with Corbyn. The former Labour leader was reportedly blindsided by her timing. Even then, they disagreed on fundamentals—particularly the name. Sultana favoured The Left Party; Corbyn hinted he would stick with Your Party. That decision is still due to be put to a membership vote.

Despite the infighting, the project has shown signs of mass appeal. Over 750,000 people have signed up as supporters since July. Earlier this week, the leadership promised that formal membership would open by the end of September, followed by national assemblies in October, an online name vote, and a founding conference in November.

Now, though, the movement faces its biggest threat yet—not from rivals in Westminster, but from within. What was billed as a party “bigger than any one person” is suddenly consumed by accusations of betrayal, authoritarianism and gender exclusion. Whether it survives long enough to hold that founding conference is an open question.