Zarah Sultana allies claim she's being 'sabotaged', as Your Party hit by resignation

Attacks on Zarah Sultana are aimed at sabotaging her ahead of a Your Party leadership battle, her allies have claimed.  It comes as the fledgling left-wing party is hit by another row, with one of its independent MPs, Adnan Hussain, resigning from the founding process and hitting out at a culture of "persistent infighting, factionalism and a struggle for power".

Politics Live: U-turn on budget income tax rise triggers 'not normal' market volatility Ms Sultana, who co-launched Your Party with Jeremy Corbyn in July, has been at the centre of a row over donations after taking over a company that collected supporters' money while the party was being formally constituted. She has insisted she is transferring it over in stages for legal reasons, but in a statement on social media last night, Your Party said it was “frustrated” that the bulk of the money was "beyond its reach" and that it was pursuing the full amount immediately.

The statement dropped minutes before Ms Sultana appeared on BBC Question Time. A source close to her told Sky News: "It's unbelievable really.

She's transferring money as promised, so it's available for conference, they know perfectly well they're demanding something impossible, and they wait until she's about to appear on BBC QT to use official party social media channels to publish that." They added: "It's hard to interpret it as anything other than deliberate sabotage, because they're worried she'll win a leadership contest because her vision is much closer to what members are looking for." Your Party members will elect a leader in the new year. Exactly how that will work will be fleshed out at the founding conference in just a few weeks' time.

The draft founding documents, which members will vote on when they gather in Liverpool, have proposed a single leadership model, with elections to commence in the new year. It could result in a bitter battle if Ms Sultana and Mr Corbyn both go for the top job.

Allies of Mr Corbyn point to his experience as Labour leader and say Ms Sultana can't be trusted because of her habit of making unilateral decisions - such as announcing Your Party early, and launching an unauthorised membership portal. But backers of Ms Sultana see her as a fresh face for the left and believe her vision for the party is more democratic.

Your Party 'operating on a shoestring' Your Party promised to be a socialist alternative to the rise of the right, but it has been marred by factionalism and division from the beginning. In a statement on its official social media last night, Your Party said that hundreds of thousands of pounds were donated to the party "by supporters in good faith, but have since remained beyond its reach.