Supporters of Your Party in South London have continued to mobilise despite last week’s public dispute between its co-leaders.
Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, co-founders of Your Party, engaged in a public feud last week after Sultana unilaterally sent an email containing a payment portal for official party membership to its supporters.
However, Your Party’s south London-based community have continued to plan and meet in order to keep momentum of campaigning efforts, even though cracks in the party’s leadership have appeared.
Two open forum events in Lambeth and Southwark have been organised this week by the party’s supporters, to discuss how the factional in-fighting cannot deter the local community from campaigning.
Sam Vacciana, 57, organiser of the Southwark open forum event, that took place yesterday said: “We organised the event to give people a lifeline. We don’t need people at the top to tell us what to do.
“Initially, the atmosphere was cautious, but by the end, everyone was buoyed up.”
Michael Holland, 55, a teacher from Croydon and an admin of the Your Party South London Whatsapp group said: “We need an organisation that is insurgent, diverse and led from below.
“We cannot have strategies and policies decided by an elite group that does not represent the will of the people. I’m still hopeful.”
At the Southwark open forum attendees heard from various community groups, such as the Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers, Southwark Housing and Planning Emergency, Women Against the Far-Right, RMT and BLM representatives, and Salma Yaqoob, representing Your Party.
The event concluded with the organisers committing to continue campaigning efforts on the 4 October in Peckham and another community meeting on the 21 October.
On Friday, in a direct response to the dispute between Your Party’s figureheads, Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, a South London Your Party unity statement was sent to the same Whatsapp group.
The statement is appealing to the party’s leaders to ‘come together and work out a way through’, giving supporters the option to sign at the bottom.
As of Tuesday night, the statement had received over 200 signatures.
At a Brixton Your Party launch on 12 September, Sultana told the Londoners: “I think this Labour government is dead electorally as well as morally and politically.
“We’re building something new.”
However, the recent in-fighting between Sultana and Corbyn has sparked concern surrounding the future of the party.
Jess Edwards, 46, a Lambeth resident who attended the launch party said last week’s events were “deeply worrying and very disappointing.
“Those that have signed up [to Your Party] are expecting the energy and enthusiasm not to be thrown away.”
Featured image credit: Alice Tomlinson
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