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Former “Your Party” supporters have accused a company linked to co-founder Zarah Sultana of continuing to take monthly members’ fees from their bank accounts despite their attempts to cancel their membership of the far-left party.

Your Party — which was founded in July by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Sultana, a Labour MP who quit the governing party this summer — has been riven by infighting since its launch. The row over payments raises serious questions over the party’s organisation and controls.

Sultana unilaterally launched a membership portal on September 18, encouraging supporters to become monthly or annually paying members.

When Corbyn and other MPs involved in starting the party said that Sultana had launched the portal without authorisation, she claimed to have been victim of a “sexist boys club”.

The directors of the company which was originally founded to hold any donations made to the portal — MOU Operations — last week said they were handing the reins over to Sultana and putting her in control of £800,000 in membership fees.

Sultana has reassured Corbyn she will transfer the majority of the money over to Your Party, according to people close to her, but may hold some of it back due to potential legal liabilities. 

Nine people have told the Financial Times that they have been unable to cancel monthly payments by contacting Your Party, after originally signing up through the portal controlled by Sultana, while five others say they have not received refunds for annual memberships.

The payments were registered as recurring payments rather than direct debits, making them harder for members to cancel.

There are fears within the party that their stuttering launch is costing them members as the rival Green Party rises in the polls under new leader Zack Polanski, whose brand of leftist politics and use of social media have attracted younger voters.

Many of those who spoke to the FT have joined, or are planning to join, the Green party. In the latest YouGov survey, the Green party was polling on 15 per cent, just one point behind both Labour and the Conservatives and ahead of the Liberal Democrats.

Former supporters told the FT they have contacted the party via email and social media to request that the payments be stopped, but have had no response after several weeks of waiting in some cases. 

One woman recalled how she had to tell her bank that the £5 monthly donation was illegitimate in order to block it, which resulted in her account being frozen, and her being issued with a new bank card. 

She said: “No one is there to assist you; people are stuck paying this £5 each month as a prisoner.”

Social media manager Melissa Greenlaw, who signed up to a £5 monthly membership and has sent several emails to the party to request a refund, said: “The experience has left me feeling that Your Party is a waste of time, and I’ve joined the Greens.”

“It’s pretty depressing because there was hope when I saw Corbyn coming back, but I don’t think him and Sultana can work together effectively.”

On Monday October 27, people subscribed to the Your Party mailing list received an email from the party which directed those wanting a refund towards MOU.

Two days later the company’s directors said they were resigning “once the legal formalities have been completed” and that the responsibility of storing donations had been “thrust” upon them. They said they were handing over control of the company to Sultana.

Robert Ford, a professor of political science at the University of Manchester, said the party had a “clearly disorganised administrative structure”. 

Francis Hoar — a barrister with expertise in election law and political party proceedings — said that political parties had a duty to ensure recurring payments could be cancelled and that by law “any payments made after notice of cancellation must be repaid”.

Former supporters who had contacted the party to complain about recurring payments and memberships received an email on Friday from Your Party telling them to cancel charges with their bank or card provider.

A Your Party spokesperson said: “We have been working relentlessly to address the complex issues emanating from the unauthorised membership portal launched on the 18th September.”

“We are physically unable to refund those who signed up to the unauthorised portal, as their money and data were redirected to a third company, not Your Party.”

The spokesperson added it was offering those affected three months’ free membership as an apology.

Sultana said: “Where refunds have been requested they will be processed in due course. We apologise to people that this has taken longer than expected.”