Labour leadership contest: New members barred from voting after NEC appeal victory

Tom Powell12 August 2016
WEST END FINAL

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The Labour party has won its appeal to overturn a High Court decision allowing new party members to vote in the leadership contest.

The party's ruling body, the NEC, wanted to prevent those joining after January 12 from being able to vote.

The Court of Appeal upheld the challenge this afternoon, blocking 130,000 of the party's members from having their say in the leadership contest.

It said that the NEC, not courts, was the "ultimate arbiter" of rules.

The judgement said: "A member's entitlement to vote in a leadership election is not a product of him or her simply being a member, but is the result of him or her being a member who satisfies the precise eligibility criteria defined by the NEC and any freeze date provisions set by the NEC in the timetable for the election."

It comes as a blow to current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was initially given a major boost when five new members of the Labour Party won the High Court battle on August 8 to allow such new members a vote.

Corbyn will now face rival Owen Smith for the leadership without the support ofn the tens of thousands who seemingly joined the party simply to support him.

Jeremy Corbyn's campaign team described the ruling as "the wrong decision - both legally and democratically".

A spokesman for his campaign team said: "We think that this is the wrong decision - both legally and democratically.

"The Court's ruling disenfranchises nearly 130,000 Labour members, who joined the party since January and were explicitly told that they would have a vote in any leadership election."

The result of the Labour leadership election will be announced on September 24 in Liverpool.

This page is being updated.

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