Your Party's Founders Squabble Over £850,000 Before First Steps

A new leftwing vehicle intended to rival Labour fractures at birth. Jeremy Corbyn’s allies demand the full £850,000 in early donations from a company now controlled by Zarah Sultana. Instead of unity, public accusations of “political games” expose raw power struggles.

The dispute centers on MOU Operations Ltd, formed in early 2024 as Your Party took shape. This entity collected £850,000 in donations and fees from supporters eager for a populist left alternative. Party officials now seek every pound, even threatening legal action to reclaim it.

Sultana, as sole director, offered £600,000 in transfers, starting with £200,000 on November 12. She insists the remainder covers legal and administrative costs tied to the company’s operations. Corbyn’s camp rejected the proposal outright, viewing it as a ploy to hoard funds for an upcoming leadership contest.

This clash builds on months of tension since Sultana’s July resignation from Labour to co-found the party with Corbyn. Supporters of the former Labour leader argued his national profile made him the natural figurehead. Sultana’s backers countered with her appeal to young voters, citing her 490,000 TikTok followers against Corbyn’s 280,000.

Your Party officials complicate matters further by refusing a separate £500,000 pot. That sum arose from an unauthorized membership portal Sultana launched on September 18. The group sees it as tainted, preferring to distance the party from what they call rogue actions.

Internal Divisions Mirror Labour’s Past

These rifts echo the infighting that plagued Labour under Corbyn’s leadership from 2015 to 2020. Factional battles then eroded the party’s electoral chances, culminating in a 2019 defeat. Now, even outside the old structure, similar dynamics resurface among ideological kin.

The timing amplifies the damage. Your Party plans its founding conference in Liverpool this month, where members will approve a constitution and elect executives. Funds disputes risk scaling back the event, signaling weakness to potential recruits and donors.

Supporters on both sides frame the row as principled. Corbyn allies accuse Sultana of withholding money to bolster her leadership bid. Her team describes the retention as prudent management of liabilities, including possible donor refunds from the party’s chaotic early days.

Yet the public spat undermines the venture’s core pitch. Your Party emerged from Labour expulsions and frustrations, promising a coherent challenge to the center-left establishment. Instead, it replicates the disorganization that drove its founders out.

Broader Patterns of Leftwing Fragmentation

UK politics has seen repeated splits on the left since the 1980s. The Social Democratic Party’s 1981 breakaway diluted Labour’s vote, aiding Conservative dominance. More recently, the Greens and independents siphoned support in 2024, contributing to Labour’s fragmented opposition role.

Your Party’s turmoil fits this cycle. Despite shared anti-austerity roots, personal ambitions override collective goals. Corbyn, suspended from Labour in 2020 over antisemitism handling, and Sultana, ousted in 2024 for backing him, now repeat old errors in miniature.

Donors face the fallout. The £850,000 came from grassroots backers betting on renewal. Legal threats and delayed transfers erode that trust, potentially deterring future contributions to any leftwing project.

Institutional voids enable such chaos. No robust frameworks govern new party formations in the UK, leaving disputes to personal control and ad hoc companies like MOU Operations. This laxity contrasts with stricter regulations in established parties, yet even those fail to prevent scandals.

Systemic Implications for Political Renewal

The row reveals deeper flaws in Britain’s opposition landscape. Effective challengers require stable funding and leadership, but Your Party delivers neither. As Labour consolidates power post-2024 election, splinter groups like this weaken the left’s bargaining position.

Ordinary citizens pay the price. Without viable alternatives, policy debates stagnate on issues like inequality and public services. The energy spent on internal cash fights diverts from addressing economic stagnation, where real wages lag pre-2008 levels.

Cross-party patterns persist. Conservatives faced similar donor rows during Brexit upheavals, and Liberal Democrats splintered over tuition fees in 2010. Power struggles transcend ideology, rooted in a system that rewards factionalism over governance.

Functional renewal would demand transparent funding from day one, with elected oversight rather than sole-director control. Your Party skips these steps, dooming it to irrelevance.

This donation dispute lays bare the UK’s political sclerosis. Ambitious launches collapse into acrimony, perpetuating a cycle where no force credibly contests the center. Leftwing hopes dwindle not from external foes, but from self-inflicted wounds that leave voters with hollow choices and deepening disillusionment.