The decision was a massive win for Zarah Sultana
Your Party members have voted to adopt a ‘collective leadership’ model rather than a single leader.
In an eye-wateringly narrow vote, 51.6 per cent of Your Party members backed the collective leadership model. This will see members elect a Central Executive Committee(CEC), with the party’s “Chair, Vice Chair, and Spokesperson in particular serving as the public political leadership”.
The decision is a major victory for Zarah Sultana and her allies who have been advocating fiercely for this model. By contrast, Jeremy Corbyn had made clear his support for a single leader.
Speaking following the announcement of the result of the vote, Sultana said: “I have fought for maximum member democracy since day one. Seeing members choose collective leadership is truly exciting.
“Together, we’re building a new socialist party – radically democratic and powered by a mass movement. This party will be led by its members not MPs. This is only the beginning.”
A Your Party spokesperson said: “This vote shows that we really are doing politics differently: from the bottom-up, not the top-down. In Westminster we have a professional political class increasingly disconnected from ordinary people, serving corporations and billionaires instead of the communities they are supposed to represent. With a truly member-led party, we will offer something different: democratic, grassroots, accountable.”
The party has said that elections to the CEC will conclude by the end of February. Until then, the process will be stewarded by those MPs who are members of the Independent Alliance and Your Party – ie. Corbyn, Shockat Adam and Ayoub Khan, but crucially not Zarah Sultana – alongside a sortitioned committee of ordinary members, a party source confirmed.
Party members also backed a litany of other democratic structures backed by Sultana. This included allowing member of Your Party to also be members of ‘other national political parties “where they have been approved by the CEC”.
The conference has taken place against the backdrop of members of Your Party who were also members of the Socialist Workers Party being expelled. It will be up to the new CEC to decide whether these people will have their Your Party membership reinstated.
80 per cent of Your Party members also voted to retain an explicit endorsement of ‘socialism’ in the party’s political statement.
The results of the vote on the name of the party are yet to be revealed. Four options were on the table: Your Party, Our Party, For the Many and Popular Alliance.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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