Labour leadership hopeful Lisa Nandy demands answers after new party members are left without ballot papers amid fears the contest could be rigged
- Allies have accused party hierarchs of subjecting new members to extra checks
- They fear this could work in favour of ‘Corbyn candidate’ Rebecca Long-Bailey
- One unnamed source claimed the delay was ‘part cock-up, part conspiracy’
- Dame Margaret Beckett slammed the ballot paper delay as ‘inexplicable’
Allies of Labour leadership candidate Lisa Nandy have accused party hierarchs of plotting against her as she demands answers over missing ballot papers.
The Wigan MP has written to General Secretary Jennie Formby after party members complained they were yet to receive their voting slips by post.
Ms Nandy, 40, is a finalist in the race to secure the leadership of the Labour party, alongside Sir Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey.
But her camp has grown concerned that many Labour members affected by delays are among the 100,000 who joined after the Party’s electoral disaster last year.
Pictured: Lisa Nandy, who has written to the Labour General Secretary demanding answers as to why new members are yet to receive their ballot papers through the post
Senior unnamed Labour sources believe the delays work against Ms Nandy and Sir Keir, who are more likely to gain the support of the new members.
They further claim these delays will benefit Ms Long-Bailey, regarded by many as the so-called Corbyn Continuity Candidate, according to The Observer.
Ms Nandy’s allies have blasted what they have described as ‘part cock-up, party conspiracy’, while the Wigan MP has demanded answers from the General Secretary.
In her letter to Jennie Formby, Ms Nandy asked how many members who applied to join after December’s election were yet to pass the electoral register check.
Ms Nandy is a finalist in the race to secure the leadership of the Labour party, alongside Sir Keir Starmer (left) and Rebecca Long-Bailey (right). Her camp is concerned that many Labour members affected by delays are among the 100,000 who joined the party after the election
Pictured: Labour leadership rivals Ms Long-Bailey, Ms Nandy, and Sir Keir, February 24, 2020
She also wants to know if the same checks have been conducted on other party members before the election, and if not why not.
Charlie Falconer, the former Lord Chancellor, said: ‘The number of people complaining about not receiving their ballot papers gives me real anxiety that there is a high level of incompetence here – or perhaps something worse.’
Dame Margaret Beckett, the former deputy leader who now sits on Labour’s National Executive Committee, piled in: ‘I know of people both in my family and my constituency who have not had their ballot papers – and this is inexplicable, in that some of these people have been party members for more than 50 years.’
The ballot to select Labour’s new leader opened on February 21, and closes in April.