Jeremy Corbyn has re-launched Your Party’s paid-up membership service, apologising to supporters for “the confusion getting to this point”, after a string of embarrassing setbacks and infighting.
The former Labour leader urged backers of the new left-wing outfit to “move on” and sign up as founding members ahead of its first conference in November.
It comes after Mr Corbyn last week said he was seeking legal advice after his party’s co-leader Zarah Sultana sent an “unauthorised email” from Your Party’s account, inviting its supporters to become paid members, apparently without his backing.
That promoted a furious row between the pair, which saw Ms Sultana claim she had been on the receiving end of “baseless attacks” and announce she had consulted defamation lawyers.
But in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Corbyn appeared to be trying to move on, saying: “We’ve had some drought days in the last week, as you will no doubt be very aware, and to be honest, we haven’t covered ourselves in glory.
“But what is most important is this, we all agree about the plans for the conference and the road map to get to it.”
Ms Sultana, who has clashed with Mr Corbyn over leadership roles and their visions for the party, was featured in pictures throughout the video as the supposed co-leaders seek to rebuild ties. But she did not issue a statement alongside Mr Corbyn, and did not speak in the video.
In it, Mr Corbyn said: “To all our supporters, I am sorry for the confusion in getting to this point.
“Together, all of us, let’s move on to the next stage.”
Relations between Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana had been rocky since she quit the Labour Party in July and announced she would co-lead a party with the veteran left-winger.
Mr Corbyn appeared to have been caught off guard by the announcement and did not respond until the next day.
She then accused him of having “capitulated” over antisemitism in a stinging critique of Mr Corbyn’s time as Labour leader. He said it was “not really necessary for her to bring all that up”.
But relations hit rock bottom when Ms Sultana threatened legal action in a spat with the other pro-Gaza independent MPs who make up Your Party’s parliamentary ranks. She described a “sexist boys’ club” attitude behind the party amid a row over the party’s membership system.
And she lashed out at “a number of false and defamatory statements” made around the party’s launch after she unilaterally invited supporters to sign up to paid memberships.
Supporters of Ms Sultana and Mr Corbyn have been seeking to rebuild ties between the pair behind the scenes, and Ms Sultana on Sunday said she would drop any legal proceedings.
“The stakes are too high for failure to be an option,” she said, promising to reconcile with Mr Corbyn.
