Five Labour members have won a court case against the party over new members’ right to vote in the leadership election.
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The ruling could enfranchise nearly 130,000 people who had signed up since January, and also raised the prospect of the party having to refund those new members who paid £25 to be a “registered supporter” and vote in the contest.
Five members challenged that decision and a High Court judge ruled that they had joined the party on the basis they would be able to vote in any leadership contest.
Party officials said Labour would mount a legal challenge to “defend the NEC’s right” to uphold its rules.
He said they should be given ballot papers and have their £25 supporters fee – which they had paid on top of their membership fees in order to vote in the contest – refunded.
But Mr Justice Hickinbottom, sitting in London, ruled that refusing the five the vote “would be unlawful as in breach of contract”.
Now, the victory of five new members – Christine Evangelou, Hannah Fordham, Rev Edward Leir, Chris Granger and a minor named only as “FM” – could open the door to the thousands who felt unfairly excluded from the contest between challenger Owen Smith and incumbent Jeremy Corbyn.
At a meeting of the Constituency Labour Party on Monday, August 8, 50 of the 60 members voted to nominate Corbyn as leader.
Bookmakers William Hill immediately slashed their odds on Corbyn winning from 1/10 to 1/20 on the High Court verdict.
Six candidates who are backed by Momentum – the grassroots left-wing organisation which supports Jeremy Corbyn – took a total clean sweep in the National Executive Committee elections, increasing Corbyn’s majority by two members.
Arguing they had been misled, Mr Cragg said: ‘They paid their dues and found to their surprise they had been excluded from the present election.
A spokesman for Corbyn, who is now battling Owen Smith in a leadership challenge, said the cheque was written out to the wrong person, so it was never declared.
General secretary Iain McNicol faces being ousted if the party loses its legal bid as the bitter war between the party’s rival factions becomes more entrenched.
The NEC decided on the six-month qualification period – similar to a rule operated by the Conservative Party – at a stormy meeting last month at which it was decided that Mr Corbyn was entitled to an automatic place on the ballot and did not have gather the signatures of 50 Labour MPs.
He said the court of appeal would hear a case on Thursday if such an appeal is lodged on time.
“This already looked an unequal contest, but this new ruling seems to spell the death knell for Smith’s hopes”, said a spokesman.
” The decision taken to freeze out new members since January was an affront to democracy and went against everything the party stands for”, Mr McDonnell said.
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Mr McDonnell reacted angrily to the decision to appeal, describing it as a “further attack” on Mr Corbyn.
