When Ed Miliband was leader of Labour, one of the big
reforms he oversaw was the change in the way the party elects its leader. Previously, members of trade unions
affiliated with Labour were automatically signed up to vote; now, if they're
not a member of Labour, they must sign up.
As well as this, everyone now gets one vote and everyone's vote is equal
to each other. Previously, one third of
the vote was given to Labour MPs and MEPs, one third was given to trade unions
and one third to individual party members.
However, the real controversy has come from Harriet Harman
introducing an option for anyone to sign up and become a 'registered supporter'
- for just £3. Those who have signed up
for this have been dubbed 'three quid voters' and now account for 10% of those
eligible to vote (35,000).
What's made the scheme even more controversial is the
accusations that supporters of other parties have been signing up and
'infiltrating' Labour. For example, it
is thought that some Conservative supporters have signed up to vote for Jeremy
Corbyn - who they see as undetectable and thus if he becomes leader, the
Conservatives will have an advantage. In
fact, a Tory MP was 'caught' signing up last week - though it is worth noting
that he used his parliamentary email and gave his reasons for signing up as 'To
vote to Jeremy Corbyn and consign Labour to oblivion for a generation'. It isn't just those to the right of Labour
who have been accused of undermining their election process - according to the
Independent, 4% of Green party candidates have signed up to join the Labour
party since the election. The
Independent also claims that Labour has already found evidence of far left
groups ‘infiltrating’ the party, and quotes an MP as saying “There is panic at
Labour headquarters as more evidence emerges”.
It seems there is some frustration amongst Labour MPs too; Leeds
North East MP Fabian Hamilton told the BBC: "In
this election virtually anybody can pay just £3 online and have the same power
as long-standing members to choose the next party leader. This was one of the daftest ideas the party
has ever come up with… This is infuriating many of my constituency members,
some of whom have paid their subscriptions for 10, 15 or 20 years, attended
meetings and actively campaigned in elections."
As well as those signing up as ‘registered supporters’ Labour
has accepted over 65,000 new members since the general election in May. The BBC also spoke to Labour MP John Mann,
who said: “"People who opposed us, people who stood against us, anybody
can roll up… someone needs to check if they are Labour supporters and Labour
voters. If so, they are welcome. If not we don't want you."
It isn’t yet clear how large the effect of new members and
registered supporters will be on the leadership election. But it is possible they could swing the vote;
whether they are all true Labour supporters or not is still in question.
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NEWS REPORT: What's the Fuss Over Labour Leader Voting?
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