Jeremy Corbyn has made a powerful plea for unity, acknowledging past mistakes as he opened the founding conference of his new left-wing movement, Your Party, in Liverpool on Saturday.
A Call to End Division
Addressing members directly, the former Labour leader stated that the party must coalesce to effectively represent the people. Division and disunity will not serve the interests of the people that we want to represent, he told the audience, setting a conciliatory tone for the event.
His comments follow a period of significant internal strife for the nascent party, which was co-founded with ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana. The project's launch was marred by toxic in-fighting, a botched membership drive, and even threats of legal action.
Overcoming a Turbulent Start
The infighting led to the withdrawal of two Independent MPs, Adnan Hussain and Iqbal Mohamed, from the party's founding process. In a bid to move forward, Corbyn pointed to a recent rally in Liverpool where Sultana spoke, confirming he had sent a message of support and solidarity which was read out to attendees.
He suggested that the rocky start could serve as a lesson for others, even proposing that Your Party could eventually write a handbook on party establishment so that others could learn from our problems, learn from our mistakes, learn from overreaching.
Building a Member-Led Future
Mr Corbyn, who last addressed the main stage in Liverpool as Labour leader back in 2018, impressed upon members the huge responsibility on our shoulders to get the party operational. He outlined ambitious goals to establish branches, launch campaigns, and contest future elections.
This is our opportunity and our time, he declared. We are going to seize it with both hands, build that party, build that society, and campaign forevermore for real socialism and real social justice.
To ensure a democratic foundation, Corbyn called for the creation of a membership oversight committee to steward the establishment of local branches. He emphasised his desire to see control of the party handed over to its 50,000 members as soon as possible.
During this debut conference, which has 2,500 attendees from the total membership, party members will vote on an official name. Options include the current placeholder Your Party, alongside Our Party, Popular Alliance, and For the Many. The gathering will also debate a proposed new leadership model for the organisation.
