Labour’s NEC ruled last month that members who had joined the party since 12 January would not be eligible to vote, a decision which local media reported would exclude as many as 130,000 new members, unless they paid a further £25 sterling to register as a party supporter.
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Justice Hickinbottom said the Labour NEC did not have the powers to restrict the voting rights of members and it would be “unlawful as in breach of contract”.
So perhaps the biggest implication of this court decision is that it brings Labour a little closer to Ukip when it comes to shambolic leadership contests – which is quite a feat given the relative sizes and histories of the two parties.
This was the notorious six-month-membership qualification to take part in a leadership ballot without paying a £25 “registered supporter” fee between July 18-20.
Stephen Cragg QC, appearing for the five, asked Mr Justice Hickinbottom to declare that party rules had been misapplied and that the five were entitled to vote in the poll.
“I hope that Labour HQ rethinks this decision as it could leave a legal bill in the hundreds of thousands of pounds that we could be spending instead on campaigning to hold this Tory government to account, instead of subverting our own democratic processes”. Non-members were given the same opportunity.
There has been speculation that the majority of new party members are likely to have joined in order to back Mr Corbyn as he seeks to fend off challenger Owen Smith.
Kate Harrison, solicitor for the claimants, said that overall the ruling could affect up to 150,000 members.
Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was not present in court, although a top aide to John McDonnell was present.
A North East Labour MP said she is looking at the chaos in the party “through tears” as a High Court ruling raised the prospect of its leadership battle taking even longer to resolve.
“We have lost confidence in our full time officials to operate clearly in the interests of ordinary party members who can ill afford to fund expensive legal actions in the High Court”.
The five who won the legal challenge are Ms Evangelou, Rev Edward Leir, Hannah Fordham, Chris Granger and “FM”, a new member aged under 18.
Corbyn previously won another court ruling allowing him to be on the leadership ballot after being challenged by a donor that he would need nominations from MPs and MEPs to stand in the contest.
“They joined because they want to be involved in the party and they’re not being allowed to”.
The decision came on the same day that a slate of left-leaning candidates was elected on to the NEC – a development which could potentially help strengthen the Labour leader’s grip on the party.
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He said: “This case was always based primarily on the Labour party’s constitution as set out in the rule book”.
