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| Labour members win leadership vote case | Labour members win leadership vote case |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Five new Labour Party members have won a High Court battle over their legal right to vote in the leadership contest between Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith. | Five new Labour Party members have won a High Court battle over their legal right to vote in the leadership contest between Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith. |
| Labour's NEC had ruled that party members who joined after 12 January could not vote in the contest. | Labour's NEC had ruled that party members who joined after 12 January could not vote in the contest. |
| The group that brought the legal challenge argued this amounted to a breach of contract, saying they had "paid their dues" for a right to vote. | The group that brought the legal challenge argued this amounted to a breach of contract, saying they had "paid their dues" for a right to vote. |
| Labour is to appeal the court's ruling, with the case to be heard on Thursday. | |
| Ballot papers are due to be sent out on 22 August, with the outcome of the leadership election scheduled for 24 September. | |
| The court's decision could add as many as 126,592 people to the list of those eligible to vote in the contest, an expansion of about a third of the membership. | |
| BBC political correspondent Chris Mason said there was no way of verifying the motivations of those who have signed up in the past six months but both leadership teams say the court ruling is likely to be beneficial to Mr Corbyn. | |
| 'Victory for equality' | |
| The High Court case was triggered by the decision by Labour's governing body, the National Executive Committee's (NEC), that full members could only vote if they had at least six months' continuous membership up to July 12 - the "freeze date". | |
| But the party offered a window from 18-20 July when they - and non-members - could pay £25 to become "registered supporters" and gain the right to vote. | |
| Delivering his judgement, Mr Justice Hickinbottom said: "For the party to refuse to allow the claimants to vote in the current leadership election, because they have not been members since 12 January 2016, would be unlawful as in breach of contract." | |
| He said at the time each of the five 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". | |
| Reacting to the ruling Edward Leir - one of the five who brought the legal challenge - said the court's ruling was a "victory for equality and inclusion". | |
| "This judgement is a vindication that the political process should be fair, democratic and inclusive; that political parties, like any other organisation, must uphold its rules fairly to those who support them. | |
| "More widely, this is a victory for equality and inclusion. Political parties must keep their promises, just as we all reasonably expect anyone else to in other aspects of our lives," he said. | |
| The others in the group were Christine Evangelou, Hannah Fordham, Chris Granger and "FM", a new member aged under 18. | |
| They have been crowdfunded and are seeking to raise £40,000 to cover their legal costs. | |
| Labour leadership election timetable |