Supporters have been left dumbfounded after a disagreement broke out between Your Party co-founders, Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.
Corbyn and Sultana formed the left-wing party in July as an alternative to the Labour Party amid growing public distrust of the government.
Sultana posted to her social media a link for members to sign up and pay for a Your Party membership this morning.
The post said: ‘We said this was your party – and we meant it. We have just launched our membership. Join us and be part of history.’
More than 20,000 people have signed up for a direct debit, making them ‘paid members’ of the party.
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Users could either pay a £5 monthly subscription or pay £55 for an annual membership.
But around three hours after Sultana’s announcement, Corbyn shared an ‘urgent message to all [Your Party] members’ on X.
The statement said: ‘This morning, an unauthorised email was sent to all yourparty.uk supporters with details of a supposed membership portal hosted in a new domain name
‘Legal advice is being taken. That email should be ignored by all supporters. If any direct debits have been set up, they should be immediately cancelled.’
This message was signed by Corbyn and other Your Party MPs Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, Iqbal Mohammed and Shockat Adam.
Sultata’s X and Instagram accounts were flooded with confused members who said they were emailed a letter similar to Corbyn’s statement.
Some users questioned whether the membership page was ‘legitimate’, while others were unsure whether the email was ‘fake’.
One Instagram user commented: ‘Anyone else just get an email saying not to sign up and cancel direct debits?? So focused, and so disappointed if this is legit starting in such a shambolic way.’
Another added: ‘This whole situation will destroy trust in Your Party and in the left as a whole. I cannot believe what a mess this is.’
The MP for Coventry South addressed concerns in a post on X, saying that neither emails sent to members had ‘dual authorisation of myself and Jeremy – which was the agreement made at the start of this process.’
She added: ‘After being sidelined by the MPs named in today’s statements and effectively frozen out of official accounts, I took the step of launching a membership portal so that supporters could continue to engage and organise.
‘My sole motivation has been to safeguard the grassroots involvement that is essential to building this party.
‘Unfortunately, I have been subject to what can only be described as a sexist boy’s club: I have been treated appallingly and excluded completely.’
Those who have signed up for the paid membership scheme are left in a complete unknown whether the link was legitimate.
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