The new left-wing political party founded by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana has voted to be named Your Party – the placeholder name it has used for months.
It has used the slogan “This is Your Party” since its launch in July, but gave members the final choice on the name from a shortlist of four at the party’s founding conference in Liverpool on Sunday.
The party also opted to be led by ordinary members rather than a single leader – avoiding a potentially explosive leadership race between Sultana and Corbyn.
A Your Party spokesman said the name reflects the party’s mission to “transfer wealth and power from the few to the many”.
“It was Your Party all along,” the spokesman said.
“This weekend was a festival of democracy, breaking with the Westminster mould of top-down politics.
“That’s what we’ll be offering to voters across the country: a genuinely new kind of politics.”
Members had been encouraged to send in suggestions for the party’s permanent name.
Those were then whittled down to Your Party, Our Party, Popular Alliance and For the Many – a Labour party slogan used during Corbyn’s time as party leader.
More than 37% of the members who voted chose Your Party.
Sultana’s preferred choice of The Left Party was not chosen to be an option put to the vote, following advice from the Electoral Commission, party officials said.
Members also opted to be led by a Central Executive Committee (CEC) made up of 16 non-politicians chosen by members, rather than a single leader.
A party spokesperson said: “With a truly member-led party, we will offer something different: democratic, grassroots, accountable.”
The decision, approved by only 51% of members, headed off a leadership race that many had expected between Corbyn and Sultana.
A contest between its two most well-known figures could have re-opened many of the splits that have overshadowed the founding of the fledgling party.
Since launching the party in a surprise announcement in July, Sultana has repeatedly clashed with party officials.
And less than a month out from its founding conference, MPs Adnan Hussain and Iqbal Mohamed left the group overseeing the project, citing a “toxic culture” – particularly towards Muslim men.
Before leaving, both Hussain and Mohamed both put their name to a letter criticising Sultana for failing to transfer an estimated £800,000 of Your Party donations held by a company she controls.
Sultana has transferred £600,000, promising any remaining money would be paid “as soon as possible, as the legal details are ironed out”.
Sultana did not attend the opening day of the party’s conference in protest of the expulsion of some members who had retained their membership of other left-wing groups, such as the Socialist Workers Party.
On Sunday, the new conference overwhelmingly approved allowing members to have dual membership in the future – Sultana’s preferred option.
The CEC will be able to exclude groups deemed to be at odds with Your Party’s values and will also oversee the party’s strategy, staffing and resources.
A “democratic whip” system will allow the CEC to instruct MPs to vote in line with party policy on crucial issues, though local branches will decide any sanctions for breaking the whip.
Under the new constitution, the Independent Alliance of MPs – made up of Corbyn, Ayoub Khan and Shockat Adam – will oversee the selection of candidates for next year’s local election, alongside a members’ oversight committee made up of randomly selected members.
It is not known if Sultana will have a role in the selection process.