Whose Party? Your Party Backers in Call to ‘Democratise’ Left-Wing Group as Corbyn and Sultana Clash Over ‘Sexist Boys Club’

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.

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. 

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.

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