This ruling is a victory for all the people Corbyn brought back to politics Labour’s National Executive Committee did not have the right to bar roughly 130,000 new members from voting in the upcoming […]

Labour’s National Executive Committee did not have the right to bar roughly 130,000 new members from voting in the upcoming leadership election, the High Court has ruled today. Such a decision should be seen as a victory for democracy and another loss for an out-of-touch Labour party establishment.

In order to understand the magnitude of this decision – and the effect it will likely have on the leadership race – it’s important to revisit the reason for the high court challenge. In a highly charged meeting last month, Labour’s NEC voted to enforce a cut-off date for the leadership election. In practice, this ruling barred roughly 130,000 members who had joined after the January deadline that was agreed to by a vote of the NEC.

£25 anger

The decision was met with immediate anger. Coupled with the ludicrous £25 supporter fee, it certainly seemed as though the Labour party establishment was making moves to disenfranchise a large number of Labour members and supporters – and it’s likely that many of these new members had joined to support Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

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Five members barred by this ruling decided to crowd-find their legal fees and took their case to the high court, arguing that the Labour rulebook was on their side. Their barrister argued that the NEC had acted “unlawfully” in voting to exclude new members of the party.

The judge agreed. Mr Justice Hickinbottom supported the members’ challenge, ruling that the NEC had acted beyond its remit and that the refusal of a vote was an unlawful breach of contract.

An increased mandate

Given that Corbyn’s victory seemed near certainty even with the freeze-date applied, it now looks as if he will win in September with an increased mandate. It is not beyond sanity to consider that the Labour leader may now emerge with upward of 65 per cent of the vote.

Those who signed up to the Labour party after being enthused by his new way of doing politics have been handed an incredible victory.

This ruling is for the young people who have been messed about by first signing up as a member to then be told they need to pay another £25 if they want the right to vote. It’s a ruling for all those who have become interested in politics for the first time in their lives.

The NEC may appeal this ruling. This decision would be an utter tragedy. At the end of the day, the Labour party is the people’s party. We should be welcoming people into it with open arms. This ruling defends Jeremy Corbyn’s desire to transform our party into a movement of the people. But above all, it is a victory for all those enthused by his message of hope – it is a true victory for democracy.