Three members of Your Party’s executive committee (CEC) have become the latest well-known figures to quit the committee, with what they describe as the “letter we never wanted to write”.
“Never wanted to”
The letter cites the party’s “shameful” conduct, lack of democracy and transparency, and unaddressed “serious misconduct” by senior staff. In full, it reads:
Why we are resigning from the CEC – a statement from Solma Ahmed, Sophie Wilson and Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi – 14.08.2026
This is a letter we never wanted to write. We have resisted and delayed, hoping against hope that we would be able to find a positive route forward, but recent developments have forced our hands. We are unable to stay true to our socialist and democratic principles and remain members of Your Party’s Central Executive Committee.
We were privileged to be elected to represent YP members on the CEC formed in March 2026. Our goal, shared with thousands of other active, committed socialists across the UK, was to build a mass organisation to speak for working class people betrayed by the established political parties. We had an historic opportunity to galvanise people from across the political spectrum left of Labour, to fight the rising fascist menace, environmental catastrophe and the breakdown of international law, and to unite around issues important to people’s daily lives.
We were enthused by the prospect of being part of the collective leadership voted for by the party’s founding conference five months earlier. To our dismay it quickly appeared that our enthusiasm did not seem to be shared by a significant number of leading figures in YP. We felt that the comradely interactions, openness, transparency and accountability which must be at the heart of a democratic, member-led party were absent from the CEC from the start. The committee was dominated by a group that had taken control of the bureaucratic machinery of the party before the elections and then won a sufficient majority of elected seats to dominate all officers’ positions. It headed a tightly-controlled, top-down operation, excluding us from decision-making processes regarding all important areas of policy and governance.
There have been no official published minutes since the first full meeting on March 8. Since then, the party chair has sent out her own superficial reports. Votes are not recorded despite our repeated requests that they should be. We have taken it upon ourselves to inform members of the actual content of meetings by circulating our own reports, acting properly at all times and in what we sincerely believed was in the best interests of members. For this we have been threatened with disciplinary action for breaching confidentiality. We have pointed out the absurdity of CEC members having no means of communicating with one another or with members in the regions they were elected to represent. We have protested at the lack of opportunity to properly discuss or question documents presented at short notice on agendas over which we have had no influence. For this we have been accused of filibustering. We have had amendments intended to enhance proper accountability and transparency ruled out of order or voted down. We, and therefore the members we represent, have been kept in the dark about party finances, staff appointments, recruitment and pay, membership numbers, the rationale behind decisions on branch formation and electoral policy, and much more. We participated in local YP branch launches despite having been excluded, along with the potential members of those branches, from their formation planning.
We have seen complaints of serious misconduct, including by senior party staff, brushed aside and when complainants persisted, subjected to what we felt were biased investigations with unjust outcomes.
Although we are members of the party’s governing body, we have been powerless to halt the unceasing betrayal of democracy and openness, carried out in a bullying and abusive manner by members of the controlling group, often hiding behind anonymous emails such as “CEC Team” or “Complaints Team.” It was only the dedication of members who were desperate to make a success of YP that persuaded us to stay until now.
On July 3, three CEC members received letters suspending us from attending a CEC meeting on July 5. On July 6, we learned that CEC members had been denied knowledge of a serious risk that we, and possibly grassroots members, might face onerous personal liabilities as a result of unresolved governance issues. These are referred to obliquely in Jenn Forbes’ July 2026 report to members as “serious items around liability, insurance, indemnity and data protection”. This, combined with mounting examples of anti-democratic behaviour by the controlling group, prompted seven previously loyal CEC members, including three officers, to join seven others at a special meeting on July 12. It resulted in votes of no confidence in the chair, secretary and membership officer.
Three officers and one other CEC member resigned from the committee during July, but the three in whom a clear majority of CEC members had declared no confidence continue to cling to their positions, issuing pronouncements denying the legitimacy of the special meeting. Only now have we been offered individual @yourparty.uk addresses, on condition that we sign non-negotiable non-disclosure agreements. Agendas for recent CEC meetings that were postponed or rendered inquorate included plans for a second national conference in the autumn at which, if it happens, we fear that YP will scrap collective leadership and entrench the disastrous top-down bureaucratic model we have struggled with so far.
In these circumstances we cannot in good conscience continue as members of the CEC.
“Tragic” Corbyn failure over Your Party
It continues, accusing Corbyn of a “tragic” inability to recognise or act on the abuses:
Our future as individuals is of little significance, but the damage done to the serious left in the UK by misdirecting the energy of so many great activists at such a critical period is incalculable. The controlling group presides as Your Party sheds members, making a once-hopeful initiative irrelevant in a political landscape dominated by Burnham, Farage and Polanski. It is tragic that Jeremy Corbyn, whom we have long admired, supported and defended against right-wing attacks, seems incapable of distancing himself from such a misconceived project.
It’s shameful that so little of the argument since the November 2025 conference has been about the principles and politics that should underpin our efforts. But this is not a superficial tit-for-tat battle between factions or clashing personalities. It is a rift between bureaucrats whose priority is running a parliamentary party with loyal, unquestioning foot-soldiers at local level, and class-conscious activists striving to build a movement which empowers the grassroots through democratic, transparent, accountable campaigning institutions.
Our intention now is to use all the connections we have to support socialists, including valued comrades still on the CEC, working to hold together the many strands of our movement, until new opportunities arise to build the inclusive, mass party that the working class needs.
Signed:
Solma Ahmed, East of England CEC representative
Sophie Wilson, Yorkshire & The Humber CEC representative
Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, South East CEC representative
Featured image via the Canary
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