Jeremy Corbyn has consolidated his grip on the Labour party after he won the first round of the latest high court battle over the rules of the leadership contest – and his supporters swept the board in elections to the party’s ruling National Executive Committee.



After another day of twists and turns in the fierce battle for the future of the party, some of Corbyn’s critics among Labour MPs were privately saying his position now appeared unassailable.

A high court judgment, issued on Monday morning, struck down the six-month cutoff point imposed by the NEC for members to vote in the leadership contest, with Mr Justice Hickinbottom saying it was a breach of contract against the five new members who brought the case.

The NEC vowed to continue the fight, issuing a statement saying: “The procedures committee of the NEC has decided that the Labour party will appeal this ruling in order to defend the NEC’s right, as Labour’s governing body, to uphold the rule book, including the use of freeze dates.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Christine Evangelou is one of five new Labour members named in the court action. Photograph: John Aston/PA

But as Corbyn’s backers, including shadow chancellor John McDonnell, condemned the plans for an appeal, it emerged that they will soon have decisive control of the NEC, after party members elected all six candidates on a pro-Corbyn slate.

Results of the NEC elections showed that the six members elected to represent constituency Labour parties were Corbyn backers, while his critics, including current member Johanna Baxter, who recently complained about bullying in the party, and the comedian Eddie Izzard lost out.

The new NEC members will take up their seats after September’s annual party conference. Labour MPs critical of Corbyn suggested last night that combined with the high court judgment, the triumph of the pro-Corbyn slate suggested he had significantly tightened his grip on the leadership. “This is very, very, very bad news,” said one.

Both sides believed the NEC’s decision to exclude new members from voting would disadvantage Corbyn, as his supporters had been running a vocal campaign to sign up new recruits since the wave of shadow cabinet resignations in the wake of the Brexit referendum, which his backers regarded as a “coup”.

McDonnell described the NEC’s decision to appeal the high court judgment as a “deeply disappointing decision by a small clique of people behind closed doors”; but he welcomed the results of the NEC elections.

“This result clearly shows that there is a desire for real and genuine change in our party under the continued leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, but we are not going to take anything for granted and we will be campaigning for every vote in the leadership contest,” he said.

Corbyn has been pitted against the NEC – the governing body of the party he leads – over the rules of the leadership race against Owen Smith, and had already won a separate legal battle over whether his name should automatically appear on the ballot paper without the need to secure nominations from Labour MPs.

Smith, the Labour MP for Pontypridd, emerged as the challenger to Corbyn after a series of shadow cabinet resignations and a vote of no confidence that saw more than three-quarters of MPs withhold their support from the leader chosen by party members last year.

With the results of the membership ballot due to be announced on the eve of Labour’s conference, Smith called for the contest to be extended if the high court judgment stands – allowing more time for members who have joined since the start of the year to get to know both candidates.

In a statement issued before it became clear the NEC would appeal, Smith said: “The Labour party is the greatest agent for social change this country has ever known and I have always welcomed the growth of our party and wider movement. Now many more members will have the chance to vote in the leadership election, I am today calling for an extension of the timetable so that all members have the opportunity to engage with Jeremy and me before making their choice.”

His team said they were also concerned about the logistical challenges of ensuring the 130,000 new members can vote, with ballots due to be sent out next week. Many new members, told they would not be allowed to vote, paid £25 to sign up as a “registered supporter” in a two-day window in July.

If Monday’s court judgment is not overturned, the party is expected to have to return their money – and will also have to ensure that members who also signed up as supporters are not accidentally sent two sets of voting papers.

The two men will go head to head in a second live hustings event in Gateshead on Thursday. Smith used a speech in Newcastle on Monday to announce a series of new economic policies, including demands that the Treasury bring forward the autumn statement and use it to boost investment to prevent a downturn in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith are competing to be Labour leader. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

He also reiterated his pledge to put the details of whatever deal Britain is offered as it seeks to leave the European Union to the public, in a referendum.

“Under the Tories, we face the prospect of our country being the sick man leaving Europe. Jeremy has said we should get on with leaving, I profoundly disagree. I will not allow the UK to fall coughing and spluttering out of the EU door,” he said.

The cutoff date for Labour members to vote in the leadership contest was decided at the end of a long and fractious NEC meeting last month. Corbyn had already left to greet supporters outside, having clinched the vote to allow him on to the ballot paper without gathering nominations.

In yesterday’s written judgment on the six-month cutoff point, Mr Justice Hickinbottom said: “At the time each of the claimants joined the party, it was the common understanding as reflected in the rule book that, if they joined the party prior to the election process commencing, as new members they would be entitled to vote in any leadership contest. That was the basis upon which each claimant joined the party; and the basis upon which they entered into the contract between members. For those reasons, the claimants’ claim succeeds.”

He said that a refusal to allow them to vote was an unlawful breach of contract.

The five Labour members who brought the case, whose legal fees were crowdfunded, had claimed that Labour’s rulebook made no provision for treating them differently and none had ever been made in any of the party’s previous leadership elections.

They also argued that when they joined, the Labour website and other communications said they would be “a key part of the team”, and thus eligible to vote in any leadership election.

Four named members challenged the decision: Christine Evangelou, the Rev Edward Leir, Hannah Fordham and Chris Granger. The fifth was named in the court papers only as FM because he is under 18.

Both Corbyn’s supporters and his opponents had been actively recruiting party members in recent months, helping Labour’s membership rise to more than 500,000 – higher than the peak under Tony Blair. Trade union members affiliated to Labour will also be able to vote.



