Internal Splits Lead to Confusion Over Your Party Membership Portals
Two competing Your Party membership portals emerged following internal divisions, with Zarah Sultana launching one in September and Jeremy Corbyn along with other MPs launching a second one a week later. Prior to the launch of the second portal, over 20,000 individuals had already signed up through Sultana's site. Corbyn criticized the Sultana-led portal as unauthorized, while Sultana defended her actions as necessary to protect grassroots involvement amid ongoing infighting.
The two portals are unable to communicate with each other, creating difficulties for subscribers, who find they cannot cancel memberships through the new portal or access funds and data from the old one. Additionally, recurring bank card payments lack the usual direct debit protections and have become harder to cancel. By October, subscribers were directed to contact MOU Operations Ltd for refunds; however, the MOU directors resigned, citing imposed liabilities. Sultana then became the sole director responsible for approximately £500,000 raised, with reports indicating that all subscriptions from her portal had been cancelled.
The party stated that refunds remain with MOU and offered an apology by providing three months of free membership to those who had joined via Sultana's portal. Sultana confirmed that refunds would be processed through a dedicated email address. Despite these measures, some subscribers reported ongoing issues, including an inability to cancel memberships, unanswered emails, unhelpful local branches, and attempts to block card payments that resulted in recurring £5 charges. These incidents underscore ongoing chaotic management of the membership systems.
