Corbyn's new left-wing party opts for collective leadership

A new left-wing political party co-founded by veteran British socialist Jeremy Corbyn narrowly voted to be led by its members rather than an individual leader, it announced on Sunday.

The decision, after a vote at Your Party's founding conference in the northwestern English city of Liverpool, was welcomed by party co-founder Zarah Sultana.

"I have fought for maximum member democracy since day one," she said. 

"Seeing members choose collective leadership is truly exciting."

The vote was close. 51.6% at the conference opted to be led by a committee of members, rather than an individual leader. 

In a separate vote, the conference agreed to permit members of other parties to join Your Party where they were found to "align with the party’s values".

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This comes after a row over the expulsion of a number of members on the eve of the conference on the grounds they were also members of the far-left Socialist Workers Party. 

Sultana boycotted the conference on Saturday over those expulsions, plunging the trouble-hit party into a fresh crisis.

Corbyn, 76, and Sultana, 32, both former Labour MPs, have been frequently in dispute since they announced the party in July.

Two of the four independent MPs who initially signed up later quit over the divisions, which have included a row over a botched membership launch and threats of legal action.

The new party faces a huge task, with polls showing that the Green Party -- now headed by charismatic leader Zack Polanski, 30 years younger than Corbyn -- is mopping up most of the disaffected on the left.

mp/cw