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Ex- Labour MP Zarah Sultana has alleged Jeremy Corbyn of managing a “gender-biased group” that excluded women from the founding of a new progressive party.

In a message on online platforms, Sultana asserted she had been marginalized by other members of the party's working group, despite an agreement that she and Corbyn would together authorize important steps.

Her remarks came after followers of Your Party got an email on Thursday promoting £55 memberships, only for Corbyn to later reject it as “improper” and reveal he was obtaining legal advice.

Sultana justified her decision to create the membership website, stating it was “in line with the roadmap” set out by party officials.

Before releasing her message, Sultana had been writing on social media throughout the morning, urging people to register at a cost of £55 for full membership.

She announced that more than 20,000 people had joined, meaning the new party could have collected more than £1 million in a single morning.

“My only motivation has been to preserve the grassroots involvement that is crucial to building this party,” Sultana said.

“Sadly, I have been exposed to what can only be described as a sexist boys' club: I have been treated appallingly and excluded completely.”

She continued that other individuals had refused to allow any other women with decision-making power on the Working Group, hindering the gender-balanced committee that both she and Corbyn had agreed to.

Before Sultana's remarks, Corbyn released a conflicting statement signed by a number of members of the Independent Alliance of MPs who are founding the new party. Sultana's name was clearly absent from the list.

The communication to supporters on Thursday morning claimed that an “unauthorized email” had been sent promoting a membership portal under a new web address.

They advised backers to ignore the message and cancel any direct debits that may have been set up.

Sultana defended her decision to set up the membership portal, emphasizing it was “following the roadmap set out to members on Monday and is a safe, trusted, authorized portal for the party”.

She said she had set up the site to allow supporters to “continue to participate and organize”, and that membership funds were being managed by a company set up by the party to protect money until November's founding conference.

Sultana also expressed concerns that long-time Corbyn supporter Karie Murphy and her associates had been handed “sole management of funds of members' money and sole constitutional control” over the conference.

She called for Corbyn to release all party structures, saying that only openness would “restore hope for our members and ensure nothing like this can ever happen again”.

“This party is more important than any one person,” she stated, “and we have a duty to the movement to defend its participatory and progressive foundations.”

On social media, some activists voiced anger that the party was fragmenting so early into its establishment, which had deterred them from joining.

A prominent commentator who has supported the new party stated that if the conflict continues, “people will lose interest and just focus solely on the Greens”.

The conflict is the latest disagreement at the leadership of the new group, which has not yet be officially titled or hold an founding meeting.

In July, Sultana stated that she was leaving Labour and launching a new party with Corbyn—a move that reportedly shocked the former Labour leader and others involved in the project.

The pair also differed over the name of the party. Sultana had stated it would not be called Your Party, preferring The Left Party, while Corbyn had suggested the name could stay. The final decision is scheduled to a vote by supporters.

In spite of the bumpy start, the party began to gain traction, enrolling more than 750,000 supporters under the temporary name of Your Party.

Earlier this week, Your Party emailed supporters, stating that membership would open by the end of September and draft party rules and policy positions would shortly be published.

This would be followed by national assemblies in October and an online vote on the new name for the party.

In November, the party's founding conference is scheduled to be held.