Members of the shadow cabinet have discussed concerns about the role of registered supporters in the Labour leadership election as well as a timetable that has not given party officials time to conduct proper checks on the new recruits.
At a private meeting, shadow ministers were told that party members from all wings were angry that 120,000 registered supporters paying only £3 had been given a vote worth the same as those sometimes paying £50 and with long experience campaigning for the party.
Figures show local branches have not been able to find any record of previous support for the party among 15% of the new registered supporters. This may reflect errors in the party canvassing system. It is likely the registered supporters will be offered cut-price full membership by whoever wins the contest.
The candidates have sent out last-minute messages with the ballot due to close on Thursday. Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, said: “Contrary to claims in the media, this race is still there to be won. I can unite Labour and save it from repeating the mistakes of the past – those of the 1980s and also the last parliament.”
In an apparent reference to his rival Yvette Cooper, he said: “Labour needs a leader ready to fight the Bullingdon Boys, not Tony Blair and the battles of the past.”
Karim Palant, a former policy chief to Cooper’s husband, Ed Balls, issued a withering attack on Jeremy Corbyn’s recent attempt to repackage some of his policies.
“He [Corbyn] can’t be straight-talking and run away from 32 years of political statements. He can’t represent a new, more honest politics and pretend he is nationalising the railways out of concern for the commuters of Tunbridge Wells,” Palant said.
Corbyn himself addressed a rally in the key Labour-Tory marginal of Nuneaton East. “Labour lost the election because they had no clear alternative to the Tories’ unnecessary, self-serving austerity plans,” he said.
Liz Kendall’s supporters issued a statement reaffirming their support for her, adding that no vote for her would be wasted since the voting system allowed for subsequent preferences to be expressed.
