It’s fair to say that the party currently – and, we suppose, formerly – known as Your Party are facing another bout of confusion and chaos, after a complaint about their name was filed with the Electoral Commission last week.
ALSO READ: Members vote for Your Party to be called Your Party
Your Party may face potential name change
Their journey to choosing the name has been a relatively farcical one. It was chosen as a placeholder name at first, before it became used commonly to describe the political vehicle launched by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana – who have also experienced some friction.
Corbyn and Sultana have regularly clashed over administrative procedures, with both the party launch and membership fee collections falling foul of the disorder. This has put the pair on an uneven footing, and at the inaugural party conference last week, the farce went further.
Chaos in launch of new left movement
Sultana eventually boycotted the first day of the conference, in protest at a recent wave of expulsions. Clips of the weekend also went viral online for all the wrong reasons, with some speeches descending into chaos and factional in-fighting making the headlines.
In the face of all that, Your Party also passed a resolution to name themselves… Your Party. This beat options such as ‘The Left Party’ and ‘For The Many’. And, the convoluted naming process was used as another stick to beat the organisation with. Unfortunately, things aren’t getting any easier
Zarah Sultana ‘unaware’ of complaint raised
The drama is set to continue for the political upstarts, after a report in The Telegraph confirmed that a complaint from the Labour Against Antisemitism Group – who have had their run-ins with Jeremy Corbyn over the last decade – would now be investigated by the electoral watchdog.
The crux of the issue is, according to those raising the grievance, that the phrase ‘your party’ can be used in the instructional sense, and may confuse voters when reading the text on the ballot paper. Speaking with LBC on Sunday, Sultana revealed her own opposition to the name. Of course…
“I wasn’t actually aware of that. The members have chosen the name and obviously I wanted it to be called The Left Party. But again, that wasn’t put on the ballot party… [I was] dismissed and it wasn’t put out there for members to choose, which is interesting.” | Zarah Sultana