Southport Labour has welcomed the decision to allow Jeremy Corbyn onto the ballot in the forthcoming Party leadership election.

The Party's National Executive Committee (NEC) decided last night that as democratically elected leader of the Labour party, Mr Corbyn was entitled to defend the challenge against him.

Ainsdale's Mhairi Doyle, the new chair of the local party, said: “Southport Labour Party supports Jeremy Corbyn as our leader and as our future Prime Minister. We are delighted that the attempt to circumvent his democratic mandate was rejected by the Party's NEC.

“Jeremy offers something that British political life has not seen in some time, a genuine desire to build a fairer society where everyone is valued and everyone has the chance to make the most of their talents.

“It is with great sadness that local members have watched the challenge against Jeremy unfold but now the membership has the chance to have their say. We are sure they will stand up for fairer Britain and say this is the direction they want the Party to go, this is the direction they want the country to go.”

Following the announcement of the challenge, Southport Labour Party has seen a big rise in membership, the vast majority of whom say they have joined to support Jeremy and his team.

At time of writing the membership stands at 770 members. Mhairi added that this would "give Southport Labour the chance to robustly challenge the Lib Dem/Tory complacency in the town come the next local election."