Moderates in ‘final battle for heart of party’
Anti-Corbyn MPs call for influx of new members to deny coronation of a hard-Left Labour leader
MODERATE Labour MPs have called for an influx of new members to help elect the next leader, as a former minister declared that they were locked in “the final battle for the heart of the Labour Party”.
In an attempt to wrest back control of Labour from the hard-Left, prominent backbenchers yesterday urged activists to sign up in order to tip the balance back in their favour.
However, a senior Labour insider warned that their efforts could be thwarted by the ruling national executive committee (NEC), which is firmly in the grip of Jeremy Corbyn’s allies.
They pointed out that during the 2016 leadership contest between Mr Corbyn and Owen Smith, the NEC had temporarily restricted voting rights to exclude members who had been registered for less than six months.
Last night an NEC source said they expected the body’s senior officers to discuss the process early next week, adding that they were “sure” restrictions on voting rights “will be debated”.
“There will have to be a discussion about the length of time you have been a member,” they said.
It comes amid growing fears that the current party membership, dominated by Corbynistas, could scupper efforts to elect a new leader capable of dragging Labour back to the centre ground.
Jess Phillips, a frontrunner to succeed Mr Corbyn, led the calls for a moderate fightback, warning against a potential “stitch-up” and called for the leadership contest be “truly open”.
The Birmingham Yardley MP, who has repeatedly railed against the growing dominance of the hard Left, urged those “upset with the party” to join the movement in order to wield “actual power”.
She said: “I don’t know what is going to happen, but I know we need people in this fight. You can change this and we can’t do this without you.”
Others called on ex-members who had quit the party in protest at Mr Corbyn’s leadership to return ahead of the leadership election, which is expected to commence early next year.
They included Brendan Cox, the widower of murdered MP Jo Cox, who said: “If Jo were here she would be telling us not to mourn but to organise. If you care about the future of the Labour Party, join or rejoin it now and help bring it back to its senses.”
Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph last night, a former Labour minister claimed that the “next few months are utterly critical”, adding that a flood of new members could deny Mr Corbyn’s allies a “coronation”.
“This is the final battle for the heart of the Labour Party,” they continued. “The Parliamentary Labour Party has also got to have some guts. That’s the only place where sense can prevail. They’ve got to be emboldened.”
Heeding the calls, Rev Richard Coles, the broadcaster and former musician, confirmed that he had registered to become a member.
He was joined by Caroline Criado Perez, a feminist who campaigned for women to be depicted on bank notes, who tweeted: “We need as many of us as possible on the side of workers’ rights, environmental rights, women’s rights. We have a big fight up ahead.”
However, an ally of Mr Corbyn last night told this newspaper: “Nobody is going to overcome what we’ve got in terms of the current membership. The membership has grown under Jeremy; it hasn’t changed. You can’t magic up half a million people.”
A senior trade union source said: “The machinery is in the grip of the Left. They will do whatever they deem necessary to stop some people winning.”
‘The party machinery is in the grip of the Left. They will do whatever they deem necessary to stop some people winning’