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The new left-wing party temporarily known as Your Party has descended into public chaos just months after its launch, with co-founders Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana now publicly clashing over the party’s direction and membership process.
On Thursday, Sultana launched a membership portal for the new left-wing party, only for Corbyn and fellow Independent Alliance MPs to immediately disavow it as “unauthorised” and seek legal advice.
Sultana responded by complaining about being “sidelined” by her colleagues and being “effectively frozen out of the official accounts”.
“I have been subjected to what can only be described as a sexist boys’ club”, she said in a statement.
Against the backdrop of internal strife, concerns are mounting about whether Your Party can avoid the sort of democratic deficits that backers believe have plagued the Labour party for decades, and which the new party was meant to solve.
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As a result, a new group launched on Thursday within the party, called ‘the Democratic Bloc.’
The group is a response to concerns that decisions are being made behind closed doors by a small circle around Corbyn, potentially replicating the top-down approach that alienated some Labour members during his leadership.
It was, in a sense, a timely launch – but was overshadowed by the open spats at a leadership level. To the Democratic Bloc, it proved their point.
The party’s founding conference, scheduled for before New Year, was meant to establish democratic structures and policy priorities – but the current turmoil raises questions about whether it can deliver the grassroots-driven alternative to Labour that supporters hoped for.
It’s in this context that Mish Rahman, co-founder of the Democratic Bloc, has emerged as a voice pushing for ‘genuine member control’ over Your Party’s future.
A former left-wing member of Labour’s National Executive Committee, Rahman has organised over 500 activists so far to demand that the founding conference be truly democratic rather than a rubber-stamping exercise for predetermined decisions. His group represents a faction determined to prevent Your Party from repeating what they see as Labour’s failures – centralised control, member exclusion, and the sidelining of grassroots voices in favour of leadership diktat.
Mish Rahman spoke to Byline Times about the project.
Josiah Mortimer: Following the chaos this week – with Sultana launching a membership portal and then it being cancelled by Corbyn’s side – what are your thoughts?
Mish Rahman: We launched the Democratic Bloc today explicitly stating, nobody is coming to save us, the grassroots must get ready to deliver democracy for the new left party. Thursday showed that this is true, you cannot rely on an individual or individuals, collectively we must take control of the direction of the party, its bigger than any one individual, our future depends on it
Josiah Mortimer: You were a left winger on Labour’s NEC. Are you feeling more at home now in Your Party?
Mish Rahman: The Labour Party made big mistakes, even under Corbyn. Too often it failed to respond to the real needs of the day because it acted more like an election machine than a democratic party. The old system of people at the top telling everyone else what to do has bred distrust and opened the door to far-right populism. People don’t want lectures from politicians in suits who don’t share their life experience when bills are rising, wages are low, and the cost of living keeps climbing.
This new party must not repeat those mistakes. It’s a rare chance for the left to build a party that truly represents working class people, while Labour and the Tories struggle to stay relevant. That means building an effective alternative, working with Greens and independents, and putting forward a broad, sensible programme that people can believe in and is popular.
We need to get it right before the founding conference. The new party has to be democratic, responsive, and rooted in grassroots organising. That’s why we’ve launched the democratic bloc: to make sure decisions aren’t predetermined or centralised, but instead shaped by members themselves, ready for the founding conference.
Josiah Mortimer: Setting up this group does suggest there is a worry that the way it’s heading is not going to be democratic. Is that a concern you have?
Mish Rahman: That’s the main concern I have right now. For me the worst case scenario. This campaign right now is just a campaign to get organised for a democratic conference which will deliver a democratic party. There’s a risk that decisions will be made in a centralised way, with a document written without much consultation. That document could then be debated by a small group chosen by lottery, alongside party leaders, organisers, and staff. In that setting, a leader might step in and push through their own ideas without real debate, leaving members with only a yes or no vote, a referendum, described as one member one vote on what’s already been decided, whether to proceed or not.
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Unless the grassroots speak up and organise, democracy could be sacrificed. To prevent this, members need to come prepared with a clear list of priorities for the founding conference,some for now, some for later, and some to set aside maybe for a future conference,so we don’t arrive at a founding conference without a real say and without being organised and a clear direction of what we want this party to be.
Josiah Mortimer: Does it feel like this stuff is being drawn up behind closed doors?
Mish Rahman: Right now, the only people we know co-founding this are Jeremy and Zarah. But who actually writes the email? Who’s running the operations? Clearly, there are people already organising things centrally, but we don’t know who they are. That creates scepticism not in a conspiratorial way, but because we can’t just rely on those at the top to sort everything out for us. Its not transparent and its not a good start.
Josiah Mortimer: There was a really interesting article from a supporter in Prometheus, Archie Woodrow, saying the founding process has broken down completely over having two internal camps, one loyal to Corbyn and one to Sultana. Does it feel like that from your perspective?
Mish Rahman: These things happen at the start of most left-wing parties or organisations. What matters is making sure the founding of the party actually works. Jeremy and Zarah have already made statements, launched the party.
The real priority now is preparing for conference and making sure the grassroots are organised for conference and not swayed by centralised directives. We need to decide on what we want, not just accept what comes forward centrally. At this stage people want to know what the party is going to be like, not just who’s in charge, as long as the outcome is achieved democratically delivering a democratic party.. We also can’t forget that many people are looking at Zack Polanski and the Greens. If we don’t get this right, many may go elsewhere. There are left wing alternatives available.
Josiah Mortimer: Do you think those conversations will happen at a conference about working with Greens?
Mish Rahman: This conference won’t decide absolutely everything at the first go, and it shouldn’t. Its main job is to set up the founding constitution and cover the basics. If things are done properly, there could be another conference in about a year to work through more finer details.
In our proposals, we’ve called for openness to alliances and for dual membership because if two parties share progressive goals, why can’t people be part of both? Building alliances, locally and nationally, will need different approaches, maybe even seat by seat. But those are longer-term questions, and they’ll develop more organically rather than being settled right away.
Josiah Mortimer: I noticed you got the call to democratise the data. Obviously, there have been concerns that Karie Murphy or people around her have control over that at the minute. Is that set to change? Do you think it has to?
Mish Rahman: No individual should own the data. It needs to be managed so that local and regional branches and the nations, Scotland and Wales for example can organise themselves.
Josiah Mortimer: So you’re leading up this group. Do you envisage how many Your Party members will join the Democratic Bloc?
Mish Rahman: We don’t expect thousands to join right away as many people just want a party they can vote for. But there is an active section of members who want to take part in democratic decisions. We’re aiming for a forum of around 1,000 people, and we’ve already reached nearly 500.
If we can organise that group and work with others with shared aims to agree on a clear list of priorities, we can share them across the grassroots and build support for a founding conference. We cannot have a situation like in Labour where the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy which has been around for decades yet is further away now than probably ever before from achieving democracy in the Labour party. We have one real opportunity now to get it right. We don’t have decades to get it right.
Josiah Mortimer: When I posted about Your Party before, one issue that’s come up is whether the party will take stands on LGBT+ issues. Do you think that’s going to be a controversy going into it?
Mish Rahman: The new party must be unapologetically socialist, anti-racist, and against any form of discrimination or bigotry. Finer policy details can be decided by the members, but there can be no place for any hate, bigotry or discrimination of any kind. That shouldn’t be controversial. I would be very cautious of anyone pushing for a socially conservative party. Theres plenty out there. We are building a left wing, socialist party.
Josiah Mortimer: Do you think it’ll probably express quite clear views on these issues? And dual membership is interesting as well, with TUSC and parties like the Workers’ Party possibly joining.
Mish Rahman: We support dual membership because it stops any one party from demanding loyalty without accountability and makes politics more open and accountable. That’s also how alliances can be built. Today, with the rise of far-right populism and fascism, we need a broad and popular anti racist front. That means uniting everyone who opposes the Tories, Reform, and Labour’s racist immigration policies, and working with those who share democratic values like the Greens and emerging local independents even if they are outside the Your Party structure.
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Entryism shouldn’t be a worry in a mass membership organisation. With one member, one vote, democratic elections for leaders, candidates, and conferences will outweigh any small group trying to dominate. What we must not repeat is Labour’s approach of purging and witch-hunting. But when we are talking about party alliances, it should be a prerequisite that those parties are democratic, socialist and ardently anti-fascist.
Josiah Mortimer: Presumably not members of Reform?
Mish Rahman: No. I don’t see Reform adhering to democratic and socialist, anti-racist values and identifying with the party’s principles and values
Josiah Mortimer: What are conversations going about who’s going to lead? Obviously, you want a proper election. Is it looking likely that there will be a co-leadership arrangement?
Mish Rahman: Personally I would urge Jeremy and Zarah to get round the table and talk.
Now is the opportunity to build a party that outlasts its founders. It really is a potentially historic moment. So let’s not abandon everything that has been worked on for months. Almost a million people have pinned their hopes on this project, we have to deliver.
I would have thought that a co-leadership would have been great as that draws on different experiences and demographics between Jeremy and Zarah. Now after yesterday it’s obvious to me personally that a Zarah Sultana leadership in the future is the only way to go. I haven’t spoken to anybody that thinks 2015-2019 LOTO 2.0 is what we need but it seems with Jeremy and the people around him, they just want the band back together. There were some great moments then, 2017 being a highlight. But nobody wants LOTO 2.0 now.
Josiah Mortimer: May 2026 is coming up quite soon. Do you think there’s scope to have a strong slate of local candidates?
Mish Rahman: I’m not sure this is realistic. It depends on when the founding conference happens, what it decides, and how candidates are selected as legitimate Your Party candidates democratically and transparently. We may see independents stand first and then Your Party could endorse themin the future, because I don’t see how we can set up a party, select candidates democratically, and be ready for May’s elections in time. There are parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales. Other parties have already been campaigning for over a year, so identifying and preparing candidates by May for those elections seem very difficult.I hope Im proved wrong, but I just dont see how its possible in this timeframe.
Josiah Mortimer: Is the party going to end up becoming explicitly – obviously it seems pretty clear it will be socialist – but will it be explicitly Marxist or explicitly anti-capitalist? Where do you think it’s going to end up?
Mish Rahman: I think the party will be anti-capitalist, though not necessarily just Marxist but there will of course be Marxists in the party, as there are in the Labour Party. It should be a broad coalition of the left, non-sectarian but also a new left wing populism
Populism isn’t just for the right; it can be used to challenge power and speak to people’s everyday concerns. Many of our past ideas, like free broadband, were once dismissed but are now widely discussed. With the cost of living crisis, policies like a wealth tax are popular even among Reform supporters. That’s why I see this as an anti-capitalist, socialist party rooted in popular demands.
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