Your Party could team up with Greens to keep Nigel Farage out of Downing Street, Zarah Sultana suggestts

Zarah Sultana has suggested Your Party would team up with the Greens in order to keep Nigel Farage out of Downing Street at the next election.

While the MP for Coventry South acknowledged that “fundamentally, we are different parties”, she said “there has to be conversations around electoral alliances”.

It comes after the new movement decided to make the name Your Party permanent at the conclusion of its chaotic inaugural conference, which saw Ms Sultana boycott the first day of the conference, accusing people within the organisation of creating a “toxic culture” and citing a “witch hunt”.

Members also voted narrowly against having a single elected leader, opting instead for a collective model that puts a committee of members in charge.

Jeremy Corbyn acknowledged there had been “frustrations” in the establishment of the outfit but said “we have come a long way” as he closed the gathering in Liverpool last weekend.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Ms Sultana has now admitted it “hasn’t been an easy process” to establish Your Party.

“Neither me or Jeremy have ever set up a new party before. We’ve never designed its structures, and so this hasn’t been an easy process”, she said.

Ms Sultana said the issues they have dealt with in the past have been about member democracy, adding: “Ultimately, the past few months have been really difficult, but we are moving forward.”

Asked what her message would be to voters who might look at the Green Party rather than “a party that is finding it quite hard to agree with itself” such as Your Party, the Coventry South MP told the programme: “I think it’s important that voters have a choice and that they are able to look at the left of politics, given the fact that the Labour Party has left the scene, and see multiple parties that are speaking to their interests.

“Obviously, the Green Party have a new leader who’s doing really well and I get on really well with Zack Polanski.”

Asked if she would work with him and would she defect, the former Labour MP said: “I think there has to be conversations around electoral alliances. We have to look at the next election where the goal has to be to stop Nigel Farage from getting the keys to Downing Street.

“But, fundamentally, we are different parties. We are a socialist party. We’re a party that is going to represent the working class, that isn’t shy about talking about material issues affecting workers.”

In October, one poll put the Green Party neck and neck with Labour following the election of Zack Polanski as leader.

It comes after a turbulent first few months for Your Party, marred by internal division, with a dispute between Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana resulting in a botched membership launch and threats of legal action.

Ms Sultana complained she had been subjected to a “sexist boys’ club” after supporters were invited to officially sign up and give the party financial backing.

But Mr Corbyn described this as an “unauthorised email” and just hours later warned people in a statement posted on social media not to sign up via the link.

And in an extraordinary row at the party’s inaugural gathering last month, Ms Sultana said she would not enter the main conference centre in Liverpool after one of her supporters, Kingston councillor James Giles, was claimed to have been denied entry. Other members were expelled on Friday over alleged membership of the Socialist Workers Party.

Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Ms Sultana also said there needs to be a referendum on the monarchy.

She said: “Obviously, the party does not have policies yet but it’s important that we articulate a different vision of society and an economy, and actually that extends not just to corporations and businesses and our public services, it’s also questions around the monarchy.

“When you’ve got a royal family with a sovereign grant that will increase to £132 million next year, and you’ve got Prince Andrew who’s had £12 million of taxpayers’ money to fund his legal costs – a close friend of Jeffrey Epstein – we need to have a referendum on the monarchy and talk about democratising society as well.”

Asked if she would campaign to abolish the monarchy, the Your Party MP said: “Absolutely. I’m a republican.”