Jeremy Corbyn was jubilant after the party’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) decided his name should automatically appear on the ballot paper in the leadership contest triggered by Angela Eagle.
In a crunch meeting at Labour’s Westminster headquarters that began at 2pm on Tuesday and continued into the evening, NEC members, including Corbyn himself, voted 18-14 in a secret ballot that he was not subject to the rule that forces candidates to show they have the backing of 20% of the party’s MPs and MEPs.
However, in a separate decision taken after Corbyn had left the room, the NEC ruled that only those who have been members for more than six months will be allowed to vote – while new supporters will be given two days to sign up as registered supporters to vote in the race, but only if they are willing to pay £25 – far higher than the £3 fee many Corbyn backers paid in the contest last year.
Labour’s membership has shot up to more than 500,000, according to party sources, as both Corbyn’s supporters and those who want to replace him recruit new supporters to their cause. But the introduction of the six-month cut-off point is likely to infuriate members who have joined in recent weeks with the hope of influencing the vote, and will not now be able to do so without paying an additional £25.
After the announcement, a smiling Corbyn emerged to speak to cheering supporters, saying: “I’m on the ballot paper! We will be campaigning on all the things that matter. The inequality and poverty that exists in this country, the need to end the privatisation of our National Health Service, the need to give real hope and opportunity to young people all across this country. That’s what Labour exists for, that’s what we exist for.”
A spokesman said: “The NEC has agreed that as the incumbent leader Jeremy Corbyn will go forward on to the ballot without requiring nominations from the parliamentary Labour party and the European parliamentary Labour party. All other leadership candidates will require nominations from 20% of the parliamentary Labour party and European parliamentary Labour party.”
Eagle, the former shadow business secretary, launched her leadership bid on Monday after Watson pulled the plug on peace talks between the warring wings of the party over the weekend. Eagle has already gathered the requisite number of signatures from her fellow MPs and lodged them with Iain McNicol, Labour’s general secretary.
She said on Tuesday night: “I am glad the NEC has come to a decision. I welcome the contest ahead and I am determined to win it.”
But Labour MPs are determined that there should be only one candidate that takes on Corbyn to maximise the chance of winning, with a number preferring an alternative candidate, the former shadow Welsh secretary Owen Smith, who has been expected to launch a challenge. It is understood that he will wade into the debate on Wednesday morning.
Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the PCS union, described the NEC’s decision that Corbyn’s name would appear on the ballot paper as “great news”, adding: “This attempted coup has been the polar opposite of the kind of democracy and openness Jeremy stands for and we will continue to support him.” Senior Corbyn staffer Karie Murphy tweeted a picture of two bottles of House of Commons champagne with the caption “Sweet”.
Christine Shawcroft, an NEC member and Corbyn supporter, said: “I’m delighted by the decision, I had hoped there were enough democrats on the NEC to keep Jeremy on the ballot so my faith was justified.
“The secret ballot was a double-edged sword, people may have voted with Jeremy after telling the right that they wouldn’t,” she added.
On Tuesday night, Corbyn addressed thousands of jubilant supporters at a rally at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, where the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, told the crowd that they had defeated the first wave of a coup against the Labour leader.
“We did it thanks to you, because all of you created a climate of opinion which gave courage to our representatives on the NEC,” said McDonnell.
“They have been plotting and conniving. The only good thing about it is that, as plotters, they’re fucking useless, but don’t think they will stop there. They will come back and try to hit us again and we will defeat them again.”
Corbyn was cheered for an understated reference to the drama at the NEC, telling supporters: “So, today was an interesting day. After a lot of discussion there was finally agreement for what we always thought was the case, that an incumbent leader would be on the ballot paper if a challenge was made.”
He added that they were now embarking on another campaign, with the aim of “bringing people together, to excite people about their ideas, the kind of world, the kind of society they want to live in”.
The decision to hold a secret ballot at the NEC was taken after some of Corbyn’s critics, including his deputy, Tom Watson, won the argument that some members might otherwise feel afraid to express their views.
Allies of Corbyn said the move to a secret ballot resulted from “black ops” by Watson, but sources close to the deputy leader categorically denied that he had contacted NEC members before the meeting or sought to influence them.
After the vote, a spokesman for the Labour leader said: “Jeremy has always said that if there is a challenge, he would be a candidate. The NEC has confirmed that he will automatically go on the ballot paper.”
The NEC had been asked to decide whether the Labour rulebook meant Corbyn should be put on the ballot paper without winning the support of at least 51 of the party’s MPs and MEPs – the hurdle any challenger would have to overcome.
If he had not been allowed to appear automatically, it could have blocked him from standing, since just 40 of his MPs backed him in a recent no-confidence vote. Corbyn and his allies had then been expected to launch a legal challenge to seek to overturn the NEC’s ruling.
Labour has been embroiled in a deep crisis since last month’s referendum result, with scores of frontbench resignations and a vote of no confidence in which 80% of Corbyn’s MPs refused to back him. But he has repeatedly refused to step aside, stressing his mandate from the party’s grassroots.
However, Corbyn’s opponents believe the other rules of the contest, agreed after he had left the room to address his supporters outside, make him “absolutely beatable”, saying, “we can win this, fair and square”.
Momentum, the grassroots campaign group, is holding a series of pro-Corbyn rallies in coming days while a rival Saving Labour campaign has been launched to sign up supporters seeking a change of leader.
Eagle urged Corbyn on Tuesday to rein in his supporters, after a brick was thrown through the window of her constituency office in Wallasey and she was forced to move a campaign event due to protests.
The attack on Eagle’s office underlined the febrile atmosphere in which the battle for the future of the Labour party is being fought. Corbyn issued a statement condemning it, and revealed that he has received death threats in recent days.
Corbyn’s allies – including Len McCluskey, the leader of the Unite union – had argued that the 20% threshold of support in the leadership race should only apply to challengers, not to a sitting leader. Corbyn would be unlikely to meet the threshold, since more than 80% of Labour MPs backed a no-confidence motion against him.
McCluskey had insisted it would be undemocratic to force Corbyn to secure the backing of Labour MPs before he could be allowed to stand, accusing the parliamentary party of launching a “squalid coup”.
The crucial NEC meeting took place on the eighth floor of Labour’s headquarters, with Corbyn’s aides, and his wife, Laura Alvarez, waiting outside the room.
The NEC had been asked to decide on the correct interpretation of rule 2Bii in the party’s rule book, which was revised under Ed Miliband’s leadership and says: “Where there is no vacancy, nominations may be sought by potential challengers each year prior to the annual session of party conference. In this case any nomination must be supported by 20% of the combined Commons members of the PLP and members of the EPLP. Nominations not attracting this threshold shall be null and void.”
According to reports, James Goudie QC, who had given advice that Corbyn should not be given a free pass on to the ballot paper, was invited on Tuesday night to give evidence to the NEC by McNicol. Mark Henderson, the QC who gave contrasting evidence saying that Corbyn should be on the ballot after being commissioned by a Unite delegate, was not invited to do the same.
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