Labour has said it has no plans to delay Saturday’s announcement of its new party leader, despite evidence that hundreds or even thousands of eligible voters have not yet received their ballot papers.
A Labour official rejected reports that the result would be delayed until Tuesday next week to give eligible members longer to receive their ballot papers. The deadline for votes to be cast in the leadership election is Thursday lunchtime.
The campaign teams of the leadership candidates Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham have denied they are calling for a delay, but both acknowledge there has been a problem with ballot papers being sent out.
A senior figure in one camp said: “We clearly need to know what the party will do if thousands have genuinely been deprived of a ballot paper.”
But he added: “It is very doubtful – I would say impossible – for the party to delay the special conference due to be held this weekend. The cost of the conference prohibits it.”
It is difficult to know precisely how many of those eligible to vote have not received their ballot paper, as some will have been excluded because they were not on the electoral roll or were debarred due to their previous support for another party.
Cooper’s camp briefed at the weekend that nearly half of the ballot papers had not been returned, but in any party internal election turnout is unlikely to exceed 70%. No one can be clear whether those who haven’t voted plan to abstain, have not made up their mind or have not received their ballot paper.
Many voters can vote online, but the Guardian has received reports from party members complaining they have not received a ballot paper and found it impossible to contact the Labour party or their union.
The party has massively increased the numbers working on the process of weeding out those ineligible to vote, moving to a 24/7 system. It has a hotline that party members and registered supporters can ring if they have not received a ballot paper.
All sides claim any delay would help their rivals. Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters say they think a delay may help Cooper and would allow time to continue a purge of their number. More than 4,000 members have been purged in the crackdown.
Corbyn is due to hold another rally in Nuneaton on Tuesday in an attempt to show that his appeal can extend to marginal seats that Labour failed to win in the general election.
Liz Kendall, the other of the four leadership candidates, and shadow cabinet colleagues hit the phones on Monday lunchtime, calling members to make sure they vote before the deadline.
Kendall’s supporters Chuka Umunna, Tristram Hunt, Emma Reynolds and Gloria de Piero are urging the party to focus on which candidate can build a winning coalition so Labour can return to power in 2020.
They have called on party members to give Kendall their first preference because they say she is the candidate who is best placed to meet the challenges of the future and “give everyone the opportunity to prosper and get on in life”.
They said: “If we can’t convince people that we’re the right party to deliver higher living standards for the majority, we won’t be able to form a government.”
