Labour’s national executive committee (NEC) ruled in July that only members with six months’ continuous membership could vote in the contest between Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith.
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Delivering the judgement, Lord Justice Beatson said: “On the correct interpretation of the party rules, the National Executive Committee have the power to set the criteria for members to be eligible to vote in the leadership election in the way that it did”.
“It was right that the party appealed the judgment, just as we would have appealed if the court in the previous case did not uphold the NEC decision that the incumbent leader of the Labour party did not require nominations”.
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Paddy Lillis, chair of the Labour NEC, welcomed the ruling.
The Labour leader’s campaign chairman John McDonnell accused the NEC of using a “grubby little device” to overturn the original decision.
But the party lodged an appeal, and on Friday three judges said the lower-court judge had “erred in law”.
Corbyn said that while he wanted people to join the party “with good motives”, MPs and staff should be pleased that those who supported other parties were now joining Labour.
Smith, who has warned that the party could split if Corbyn wins the leadership election, said the ruling would not affect his campaign’s approach.
“Sorry Tom, it is nonsense – I think he knows it’s nonsense”.
“This decision advantaged Corbyn and his Sturm Abteilung (stormtroopers), but on Friday afternoon the Appeal Court handed down a big decision for British democracy”, Foster wrote. The outcome of the leadership election is expected on September 24.
“I want people to join for good motives”, he said. I have never claimed that hundreds of thousands of new joiners are revolutionary socialists and those who claim I did are attacking a straw man. “AWL even published these instructions on their web site”.
Mr Smith added: “As prime minister, I would call an immediate halt to Tory privatisation, set about scrapping the Tories damaging health reforms and make sure our NHS has the cash it so desperately needs – boosting spending by at least 4% every year”.
Although, the union says a “significant minority” of its members are backing Owen Smith, who is challenging Mr Corbyn for the top job.
Britain’s Supreme Court ruled last week against the Foster suit.
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“The figure quoted was an indicated cost for the legal work required in bringing the case, not an actual fee charged by the Supreme Court”. He assured the court, and Labour’s right wing, “We’re not suggesting anything of the sort here”.
