But the court upheld the current arrangement, which means Mr Corbyn will not have to secure nominations from MPs and MEPs.
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The ruling came at the end of a three-day hearing, brought by the former Labour candidate for Camborne and Redruth, Michael Foster.
The ruling allows the contest between Mr Corbyn and challenger Owen Smith to continue as planned, with the result due on September 24 following a postal ballot of members, affiliates and registered supporters.
JEREMY Corbyn yesterday (Thursday) described a legal challenge against his candidacy in the party’s leadership election as a “waste of time and resources” after a High Court judge backed a decision to guarantee him a place on the ballot.
In a statement following the ruling, Mr Corbyn said: “I welcome the decision by the High Court to respect the democracy of the Labour Party”.
They are considering going through the courts to get the right to use Labour’s name and assets including property owned by the party across the country. The decision, by Labour’s national executive committee (NEC), prompted anger among unions which had seen a surge of new members after the EU referendum only for these people to be excluded from taking part in the leadership contest.
“Right now, the important thing is common sense has prevailed”.
“The Judge accepted that the decision of the NEC was correct and that Mr Corbyn was entitled to be a candidate in the forthcoming election without the need for nominations”, the judgement said.
“This is a battle for the survival of the Labour party, and I am confident Owen [Smith] can win”. “We are delighted to welcome John and double up our event in support of Corbyn’s leadership campaign”.
“The notion that we’ll all go back to happy families is nonsense”, said one prominent Corbyn critic, saying that the plan would help avoid the “nuclear” option of a full party split.
Mr Foster’s QC, Gavin Millar, argued that the NEC’s interpretation of the rule at its July 12 meeting was not “reasonable”.
Even among Labour supporters, 44 per cent thought the party was failing to provide an effective opposition compared to only 38 per cent, who said it was.
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The bid by a party donor was denounced by the leader as a “waste of time and resources”.
