On Monday 12 January, Zarah Sultana joined over 200 grassroots organisers in a refreshingly transparent Q&A session on Zoom. In between her voting duties in the House of Commons, Sultana made it clear that there was no question she wasn’t prepared to answer.
Zarah Sultana — Transparency at a critical moment
Accusations of secrecy and rule by unelected cliques have shadowed Your Party from the start, undermining the grassroots socialist promise that drew wide support last summer. Sultana’s recent move has helped ease tensions and repair some of the damage after a difficult period of internal briefings, misunderstandings, and conflict.
The conference call was chaired by Eric Barnes, a member of the Your Party Connections network. This growing network provides shared resources and knowledge for grassroots organisers, promoting solidarity and collaboration. Over 200 members joined, representing more than 35% of UK constituencies, attending from home or local community halls.
This article highlights some of the questions put to Zarah and her responses, showing how she addressed the concerns and anxieties felt by many members.
‘Socialist ecosystem’
Anwarul Khan, former Transform organiser and Grassroots Left CEC candidate, opened the meeting by explaining that Your Party Connections was set up a year ago to support and connect local groups. Built on the idea that “knowledge is power,” it ensures fair and transparent access to information.
Khan stressed the network is a collaborative “socialist ecosystem,” not a secretive space. He does not “own” it but facilitates it, and representatives should be democratically chosen within local proto-branches.
For accessibility, we focus on the most relevant and commonly raised issues surrounding the development of the fledgling party. We condense Sultana’s remarks for clarity and highlight the most impactful quotes from her responses.
‘Jeremy literally attended my wedding’ — Zarah Sultana
Members from Portsmouth, Glasgow and Calder Valley:
Asked about Scotland and Wales having only one CEC representative, Zarah’s relationship with Jeremy Corbyn, advice on promoting a socialist alternative in the May council elections and suggested renaming the “Central Executive Committee” to “Coordinating Committee” to emphasise responsibility over power.
Zarah Sultana called the decision to limit Scotland and Wales to one rep “disrespectful”. She stated she has a very good relationship with Jeremy Corbyn (noting he attended her wedding) and argued that narratives of infighting are often used to mask ideological differences. She asserted that unelected bureaucrats currently have too much power and that she has been excluded from party management.
I think on the question of my relationship with Jeremy. Jeremy literally attended my wedding, so there is a really good relationship there and I think some of the narratives about how – this is Zarah, and this is Jeremy – I do want to challenge that. Because it’s about ideological visions of the party, it’s about whether they should be led by members, whether MPs should be the ones that basically dictate this top-down party machine, which I strongly oppose…
I think it’s important that we create a culture that is positive and inclusive, and allows us to just organise without that toxic behavior that we’ve seen, and that’s why the grassroots left slate is endorsing Jeremy. It recognises that we need to unify the party, we need to recognise that collective leadership won because members want members to run this party, and not MPs.
Participants from Edinburgh, North Somerset and Hemel Hempstead:
Asked whether Zarah supports the proposed “worker’s wage” motion, while also raising concerns about members being denied access to the portal, delays to event listings, and the lack of funding, equipment, and data access for branches.
Sultana said worker pay is decided at the party conference by members, which her platform plans to hold soon. She encouraged unhappy members to email the party and said electing a CEC that puts members first would fix many of these problems. Sultana also said hybrid, accessible meetings are important so more people can take part, and that local branches need access to their own data to organise properly without depending on a central system.
On the point around branch funding and data, of course, I would have ensured that you already have your data and you have money for your branches, but unfortunately, being excluded from the process has meant I haven’t been able to do that for members, and that’s why we need to elect a CEC that prioritises those issues and understands that members run this party and that they need data and money to be able to do so and agreed on the point around hybrid branches.
And with Gary’s points as well on the system and being able to organise events. Of course, we should be promoting events in a timely fashion, but we also need to give members data so they can actually push those out to their members themselves without relying on a centralised system.
MP’s loyalty to Your Party
Participants from Kemptown, Wirral, and West Cheshire:
Asked why Zarah is currently the only MP explicitly representing Your Party, how the CEC can “take power” and appoint key roles, and how she plans to work within the CEC by building consensus and respecting majority decisions. They also questioned the use of “slates” in elections, noting they can feel inaccessible or reminiscent of old Labour bureaucracy. They also asked for a timeframe for policy development.
Zarah said she and other independent MPs were invited, but none have joined yet, and she’s proud to be the first. She plans to use her role to unite the party and conduct an independent financial audit so members can see how their money is spent. Sultana defended using slates as a standard trade union method to organise teams efficiently. She also said current decision-making has excluded her and called for a new CEC to set clear deadlines for policies and conferences.
I ultimately want to abolish my own role on the CEC and I see my role as unifying the party and that’s why it’s really important that our Slate has the endorsements that it does, where we are endorsing Jeremy, we are endorsing Naomi, we are endorsing Michael Lavalette and obviously, we will be working with everyone who’s elected to make sure that the party has a strong policy platform, that it is organising in communities, and it’s building power. A party that is not visible on picket lines, is not mobilizing against the fascists, is not supporting tenants when they face eviction is an empty party and that is not what we’re building.
Birmingham, Cambridge and Southwark:
Asked how to hold officials accountable without a “whip-style” system. What happens if a branch recalls a representative? Zarah’s stance on revisiting membership votes like dual membership and collective leadership. They also asked how to address a “toxic” culture in Birmingham, including ableism and transphobia in WhatsApp groups.
Zarah backed a “democratic whip,” where officials must follow conference decisions or face recall. She insists the conference is sovereign and its decisions must stand without re-votes. On abuse, she promised zero tolerance for ableism and transphobia, saying the party must be a safe space for everyone.
I obviously, at conference, supported collective leadership and dual membership and conference is sovereign, conference is democratic, and those results have to be respected. I don’t think anyone should be talking about reviewing those decisions and holding those votes again. that’s quite concerning from a democratic point of view…
Ultimately, the grassroots left slate is running on a platform to put power in the hands of members and its branches and that’s what we will do if the members choose to elect us, and respect how diverse, multiracial…from every single background in our party, and how they have to be able to organise in a safe and respectful way.
Influence vs Control
Members from Barnsley, Knowsley and International:
Asked about the party’s long-term relationship with trade unions and its stance on supporting independent socialist candidates. They questioned the strategy for working with other parties to prevent a Reform government. They pointed out that international members cannot currently vote or stand for regional CEC seats.
Zarah Sultana supported strong trade union ties but opposed formal affiliation to avoid undemocratic “block votes” from right-wing union leaders. She backed helping independent community groups in local elections. The MP said she is open to working with the Greens on anti-fascist efforts. However, she stressed that Your Party has its own socialist positions on issues like imperialist wars and managing cuts. She says excluding international members is a serious mistake that the party must fix.
Mel Mullings is a train driver from the RMT, Megan is from the NEU and Jonah organises in unison. Ricardo is from the FBU, so having strong trade unionists is very important… I don’t think we should have the relationship that the Labour Party did with a formal affiliation, which led to block votes, and if you’ve got trade union leadership that is right-wing that is not in the interest of members, then that is an undemocratic feature of a party…so I think it’s important that we encourage members to join trade unions, and we are on picket lines, and we repeal all anti-trade union legislation, and that has to be the cornerstone of our policy. But I don’t think we should have a formal affiliation that we see with the Labour Party.
Fact over fiction
Amidst ongoing briefing and controversy, Sultana’s transparency injects much-needed honesty into a movement very much on the brink of stalemate. Hopefully these answers address members’ concerns, and the party can finally move forward.
After all, fascism isn’t waiting around.
Featured image via the Canary
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