Zarah Sultana vows reconciliation and cancels legal action after Your Party row

Zarah Sultana said she will call off legal action announced as part of a bitter feud at the top of her fledgling party with Jeremy Corbyn.

The MP on Sunday acknowledged people felt “demoralised” after the row over her push for members to sign up to Your Party, the political outfit she established with Mr Corbyn.

Ms Sultana, who had claimed she faced a “sexist boys’ club”, said she was “determined to reconcile” and was in talks with Mr Corbyn.

“For the sake of the party, and as an act of good faith, I will not be pursuing legal proceedings despite the baseless and unsubstantiated allegations against me,” she wrote in a statement posted on X.

“I know many people are feeling demoralised – I share that feeling. We find ourselves in a regrettable situation, but my motivation has always been to ensure the collective strength of our movement, put members first and build the genuinely democratic conference and socialist party we so urgently need.

“I am determined to reconcile and move forward. I am engaged in ongoing discussions with Jeremy, for whom, like all socialists of my generation, I have nothing but respect.”

On Friday Ms Sultana said she had instructed “specialist defamation lawyers” after she was “the subject of a number of false and defamatory statements” about her launch of the membership system.

It came after a message encouraging supporters of the outfit to sign up was disowned as an “unauthorised email” by Mr Corbyn.

Ms Sultana said she took the step because she had been “sidelined” and “effectively frozen out” by Mr Corbyn and fellow independent MPs Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, Iqbal Mohammed and Shockat Adam.

The Coventry South MP added: “Unfortunately I have been subjected to what can only be described as a sexist boys’ club: I have been treated appallingly and excluded completely.”

Your Party, which is yet to decide on an official name, was seen as a potential challenger to Labour, Reform UK and the Green Party.

But a former Labour MP blamed its “embarrassing meltdown” in part for her decision to join the Greens rather than work towards a Labour and Green alliance.

Thelma Walker, who was an MP from 2017 to 2019, told The London Economic: “The embarrassing meltdown of Your Party has shown neither Zarah Sultana or Jeremy Corbyn are fit to lead a party following their very public spat.”