24 Aug 2015

Harman to speak to Labour candidates tomorrow on contest worries

Harriet Harman has asked to speak to all the Labour leadership candidates tomorrow about the contest and what the leadership is doing to try to make sure it is properly run.

It follows claims from some campaign teams and MPs that infiltration could be running at 1 in 10 of the Labour leadership electorate. It also follows claims that thousands of new voters will remain unchecked by the end of the process because the party machine is too stretched to do the work.

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Some of Jeremy Corbyn’s opponents have been saying that new voters in the contest should be checked against Labour’s canvas returns, the voter contact records of what voters said when they were canvassed in the general election. If a voter said as recently as May that they didn’t want to vote Labour, their argument runs, why should the party tolerate that person’s involvement in the contest to elect a new leader?

But the party has so far been resisting this argument. Politics is, after all, about making converts, whether they are converts from the Green party, a grouping to the left of Labour or the Tories.

At least let us chase down those who registered as “A” or “against” in the voter canvassing, say some of Jeremy Corbyn’s rivals. One phone call check and at least some of them might back down and admit they’re not Labour supporters.

There is no sign that the leadership intends to change the earlier ruling and back down on this.

The main focus of the discussion though is expected to be Harriet Harman trying to reassure Mr Corbyn’s rivals that the party has the resources to do even the limited amount of checking it has already committed to on the thousands of new people permitted to vote who’ve flooded in since the election.

The conversation is meant to be about reassurance. But the very fact that candidates are called in (or conference called) to discuss a process that is under question is bound to feed reports that this is a flawed process which was not fully thought through when it was being devised.

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown has decided things in the Labour party are so desperate from his perspective that he is breaking his own rule about not wading in and revealing his choice. He has just announced via his website that he is supporting Yvette Cooper. His 2nd preference goes to Andy Burnham, his 3rd preference to Liz Kendall (not sure that transfer will come into play!). His message to Labour leadership voters is as simple as ABC: Anyone But Corbyn.

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