The Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn has called on the party to root out people voting for him in a bid to to skew the election result.

The news came after the Daily Telegraph urged its readers to join Labour to try to destroy it from within.

In an article published on Wednesday, the paper claimed that Corbyn’s leadership of Labour would be disastrous for the party, describing him as a “bearded voter-repellent”. It gave its readers a five-step guide on how to join up and vote for Corbyn.

The press watchdog Ipso is investigating a series of complaints about the article, which ran under the headline: “How you can help Jeremy Corbyn win - and destroy the Labour Party.”

“Though this a pure media stunt, Labour has in any case robust mechanisms to root out anti-Labour people from participating and we urge constituency Labour parties and members to shop anyone to the party who may have tried to sign up on this basis,” a spokesman for Corbyn’s leadership campaign told the Guardian.

He added that the Telegraph’s article was not designed to help the longserving Labour MP for Islington North’s leadership bid, but to damage it. “That is how Tories behave towards progressive ideas and politicians.

“If the Telegraph wishes to be taken seriously in its coverage of the leadership election it should consider whether this is the right way to go about it.”

How you can help Jeremy Corbyn win - and destroy the Labour Party http://t.co/vj3pgipk9Q pic.twitter.com/wkBoAKXADp — The Telegraph (@Telegraph) July 15, 2015

An Ipso spokesman said the body had received more than a dozen complaints on Thursday afternoon. The body said it had acknowledged each and would consider whether or not there had been a breach of its editors’ code.



None of the complaints is thought to have come from Corbyn or his team.

Complaints from people not affected by an article can only be acted upon by Ipso if they highlight a factual inaccuracy. Otherwise, only complaints from people directly affected by a piece – in this case, the four leadership candidates or the party itself – can be taken on.

It was believed to be too early to determine on Thursday whether any of the complaints met those criteria.



The Daily Telegraph strongly supported the Conservative party at the general election in May, as it has done at every general election since 1945.

It took the “unprecedented step” of using its marketing database to distribute an email from the editor Chris Evans urging people to vote Tory.

Around a month before the election, it put a letter purportedly from 5,000 Conservative-supporting small business leaders on its front page. It later emerged that the letter was orchestrated by the Tory party and contained duplicate names, as well as that of at least one who said they had never signed it.

Tomorrow's Daily Telegraph front page: "100 business chiefs: Labour threatens Britain's recovery" pic.twitter.com/McB8otoauG — The Telegraph (@Telegraph) March 31, 2015

Its Wednesday article, which was bylined “Telegraph Comment Desk”, read: “A lot of people, both in the Labour Party and outside it, think [Corbyn’s leadership] would be dreadful for Labour, the sort of political disaster the party last suffered in 1983 when Michael Foot’s Left-wing views saw the party lose by a landslide to Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives.

“Not everyone thinks it would be a bad thing if that was to be repeated at the next general election in 2020. Indeed, some people joke about voting for Mr Corbyn, hoping to saddle Labour with a bearded voter-repellent as a leader.”

It added: “Thanks to Labour’s new leadership rules, it doesn’t have to be a joke. Anyone can vote in the Labour leadership election.”

The Labour party said: “All registered supporters must be verified against the electoral register and will only receive a vote if they support the aims and values of the Labour party.”

The Guardian understands that the party will not refund the requisite £3 membership fee to people believed to be following the Telegraph’s advice and will keep it as a donation.

The Telegraph Media Group did not respond to a request for comment.