HOPES were rising today that unity could be re-established in the new left party launched by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.

Discreet outreach between the two has developed in the last few days, following last week’s extraordinary public falling-out.

The row erupted, to the dismay of thousands of people across the country who have signed up to support the new party, after Ms Sultana set up a membership portal for the organisation without the sanction of Mr Corbyn and the other Independent Alliance MPs.

The dispute then escalated into allegation and counter-allegation, with Ms Sultana asserting that the MPs constituted a “sexist boys’ club.”

This characterisation distressed and angered the four other MPs, who were elected on pro-Palestinian platforms last year.  They have been charged with superintending the foundation of the new party.

It is understood that they have suffered a great deal of criticism and abuse since Ms Sultana made the allegation public, and that this has complicated the search for a de-escalation of the crisis. 

Some of the abuse, all of which Ms Sultana deplores, has been Islamophobic, causing leading figures in the Muslim community to fear that a rift could be opened in the alliance forged over the last generation between the left and British Muslims.

Ms Sultana issued a conciliatory statement on Sunday night, abandoning threats of legal action, stressing her respect for Mr Corbyn and pledging to work for a united party.

Sources close to the former Labour leader stress that he felt positive about the statement and was looking to move forward in unity if the outstanding difficulties could be overcome.

The party’s embryonic but dynamic grassroots, leading national campaigners and even international figures have put pressure on all concerned to reach a reconciliation.

Party branches in Scotland, for example, urged the leadership to “work together in the interests of the many” in opposing the rise of the far right.

The damage caused by the dispute will not be rapidly undone, however.  There is anecdotal evidence of some of the party’s supporters either switching to the Green Party or dropping out altogether.

Nearly 800,000 people signed up to support the party — temporarily known as Your Party pending a democratic decision on a permanent name — following a joint appeal by Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana last month.

Opinion polling has shown that, in alliance with the Greens under their new leader Zack Polanski, the party could even overhaul Labour. While that remains questionable, it is certain that a successful left challenger would complicate the political calculations of Sir Keir Starmer’s embattled government still further.