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Zarah Sultana has boycotted day one of the Your Party conference over the expulsion of members of left-wing groups.
Ms Sultana co-founded Your Party with Jeremy Corbyn in July, but the new movement has been marred with infighting from the outset.
There was a row on the eve of conference after it emerged members of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) had been expelled from Your Party, as its rules do not permit dual membership.
However, a spokesperson for Ms Sultana branded this a “witch hunt” and said she won’t be returning until her speech tomorrow.
She said: “Zarah met members outside the conference and condemned the recent expulsions. This witch hunt is indefensible. We must build a party that welcomes all socialists. She will not be entering the conference hall today.”
Ms Sultana later told Sky News the orchestrators of that witch hunt were “nameless, faceless bureaucrats” close to Mr Corbyn.
However, she insisted she was not walking away and that her and the former Labour leader are “definitely friends”.
When asked the same question yesterday, Mr Corbyn said they were “colleagues”.
The pair have previously clashed over the party’s structure. Your Party has also faced rows over its finances and policy positions, with two MPs quitting over a “toxic culture” in recent weeks.
This conference is aimed at turning a new page and getting the party primed to fight the local elections in May.
Your Party ‘turning on socialists’
Members of the SWP argue dual membership should be allowed as the SWP doesn’t field election candidates.
Lewis Nieslen, the SWP’s national secretary, was expelled on Friday as he was on his way to Liverpool, where the conference is being hosted.
He told Sky News: “With far-right Reform UK topping the polls and Starmer paving the way for them, we urgently need a new party that unites the whole left.
“It’s wrong for those at the top of Your Party to turn fire on socialists like us who have been key to building Your Party on the…
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