Zarah Sultana drops legal threat in bitter feud with Corbyn over Your Party

Zarah Sultana has said she will call off legal action in a move of reconciliation in her bitter feud with Jeremy Corbyn over their fledgling party.

In a statement, the left-wing MP said she would put the argument behind her “for the sake of the party” and acknowledged that supporters felt “demoralised” over the row engulfing Your Party, which she established with Mr Corbyn.

Earlier this week Ms Sultana claimed she faced a “sexist boys’ club” amid a furious row over the party’s membership system. Last Thursday, supporters were urged to officially sign up and give the party financial backing – but this was later described by Mr Corbyn as an “unauthorised email”. Hours later, he warned people not to sign up to the link.

On Friday Ms Sultana said she had instructed “specialist defamation lawyers” after she was “the subject of a number of false and defamatory statements” about her launch of the membership system.

But in a post on Sunday night, Ms Sultana said she was “determined to reconcile” and was in talks with Mr Corbyn.

“For the sake of the party, and as an act of good faith, I will not be pursuing legal proceedings despite the baseless and unsubstantiated allegations against me,” she wrote in a statement posted on X. “Fascism is growing at the door. The stakes are too high for failure to be an option.”

She also said: “I know many people are feeling demoralised – I share that feeling. We find ourselves in a regrettable situation, but my motivation has always been to ensure the collective strength of our movement, put members first and build the genuinely democratic conference and socialist party we so urgently need.

“I am determined to reconcile and move forward. I am engaged in ongoing discussions with Jeremy, for whom, like all socialists of my generation, I have nothing but respect.”

As the row over the membership system escalated, the party said it had reported itself to the UK’s data protection watchdog and claimed a “false membership system has been unilaterally launched”.

Ms Sultana said she took the step because she had been “sidelined” and “effectively frozen out” by Mr Corbyn and fellow independent MPs Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, Iqbal Mohammed and Shockat Adam.

The Coventry South MP added: “Unfortunately I have been subjected to what can only be described as a sexist boys’ club: I have been treated appallingly and excluded completely.”

Ms Sultana had said the link she posted online to sign up for Your Party was “safe, secure and legitimate”.

The party said the developments were a “blow for everyone who has put their hope in a real alternative” and that Ms Sultana “has not been excluded from any discussions”.

Your Party, which is yet to decide on an official name, was seen as a potential challenger to Labour, Reform UK and the Green Party. More than 750,000 supporters signed up since its launch earlier this year under the placeholder name of Your Party, according to Ms Sultana.