Yesterday, Labour donor and former parliamentary candidate Michael Foster lodged an application with the high court which challenges the inclusion of embattled Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on the party’s upcoming leadership ballot. While challengers for Mr Corbyn’s post require the support of 51 MPs to secure a spot on the ballot, the Labour NEC has opted to include the incumbent Mr Corbyn’s name automatically – a decision that Mr Foster believes may violate the Labour Party rulebook. Speaking about his decision to file the challenge, Mr Foster accused the NEC of ‘manipulating’ the party’s rules in order to ensure Mr Corbyn’s candidacy: ‘When you conduct a membership organisation and it has a set of rules, you cannot, in Britain, a democracy that stands or falls by the rule of law, bend the rules to suit a particular circumstance or particular position,’ he said.
Legal ambiguity
On Tuesday, the Labour NEC heard conflicting opinions from QCs on the issue of Mr Corbyn’s inclusion. While Michael Mansfield QC advised that only challengers for the leadership (not sitting leaders) required nominations to win spots on the ballot, James Goudie QC concluded that all candidates should require nominations, whether challenging or defending the leadership. The NEC eventually voted 18-14 in favour of granting Mr Corbyn an automatic passage onto the ballot. Mr Foster, who has a documented history of opposition to Mr Corbyn, has insisted that his application to the high court is about legality, not politics: ‘All I’m saying is that the advice that was taken was not given the expert consideration it would receive by a high court judge. Everyone in the room [at the NEC meeting] had a different political agenda,’ he said.
Sources: The Guardian; The Independent
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