Corbyn to be Your Party parliamentary leader as Sultana joins leadership committee

Jeremy Corbyn is to become the parliamentary leader of Your Party, after an election in which his rival Zarah Sultana was also voted on to the party’s leadership committee.

Corbyn’s allies declared victory immediately after the vote in which Corbyn-backed candidates took 14 of the 24 available places on the party’s central executive committee (CEC). Sultana-backed candidates took seven of the seats, while three went to independents.

Your Party, which has a collective leadership model and will be led by the CEC, announced that 25,347 people had voted out of a potential 40,985 verified members, a 61% turnout.

Corbyn said it was time for the “real work” to begin and that the movement had to come together to defeat “the fear, divisiveness and racism of Reform” .

“I am delighted that members have voted for a mass, socialist party that takes the fight to Starmer and Farage,” he said. “Now, the real work begins. We have a precious opportunity to unite our movement around a bold vision for this country – one that creates a more caring, equal and peaceful world for all. I look forward to working with all members to make this vision a reality.”

Despite the decision to govern the party using a collective leadership model, the election has widely been seen as a battle for its future, with different visions having been offered by the co-founders Corbyn and Sultana.

Both put forward a “slate” of candidates, with Corbyn’s “The Many” slate seeking to appeal to a ​​ broader coalition of leftwing voters and “campaign on the big issues”, such as the cost of living and Palestine.

Sultana’s “Grassroots Left” slate offered a narrower ideological vision, emphasising the need for “maximum member democracy”, and warned against the danger of “Labour 2.0” if Corbyn’s camp won. Candidates with no affiliation also stood, with some complaining that independent voices had been crowded out by the two big names.

The 24-person CEC will decide who takes the roles of chair, deputy chair, secretary, treasurer, political officer and spokesperson.

After months of public spats, rows over money, accusations of sexism and rifts over policy and direction, Your Party is hoping to turn a page on the controversies that have beset it since its launch in July last year.

About 800,000 people initially joined a mailing list expressing an interest in the new party after it was launched by Sultana and Corbyn. But by September, their unity spectacularly imploded when Sultana promoted a new membership portal and encouraged members to become paying members for £55. Corbyn described the site as a “false membership system” and told supporters to ignore an email requesting funds. Sultana shot back, accusing the party of being run by a “sexist boys’ club”.

Then splits around the inclusion of four pro-Gaza independents in the party widened. Sultana said “there is no place for social conservatives” in Your Party, and in November two of five Independent Alliance MPs – who had won urban, formerly Labour seats on Gaza-focused platforms – quit the party because of “persistent infighting and a struggle for power”.

Later that month Sultana boycotted the first day of the party’s inaugural conference in solidarity with delegates who were expelled over links to other leftwing parties, describing the process as a “witch-hunt”.

In January, it emerged that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) advised the party that while it was taking no further action over Sultana’s Your Party membership portal launch, it may have involved “serious criminal activity” and should be referred to the police.

The Guardian understands that a dispute about the funds raised in the early days of the party is ongoing, with legal letters continuing between the Corbyn and Sultana camps.

There had been speculation that if Sultana was the clear victor after Thursday’s vote, Corbyn and the two other remaining Independent Alliance MPs would quit Your Party. Sultana allies had indicated that she would be unlikely to quit the party if she did not win.