Labour leadership contest: 114,000 Londoners to take part in vote

Frontrunner: Jeremy Corbyn today praised mayoral contender Sadiq Khan’s NHS plans
Glenn Copus
Joseph Watts27 August 2015
WEST END FINAL

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Almost 114,000 Londoners will vote in the contest to select Labour’s candidate for Mayor after flocking to take part amid “Corbynmania”.

Figures seen by the Standard show that since the general election in May 46,000 people have either joined Labour or registered as a supporter to vote in the selection.

Rival campaigns in the Labour race for City Hall are struggling to grasp who the newcomers will back.

With voting already under way and continuing for another two weeks, Labour leadership frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn has written an article in which he endorses mayoral contender Sadiq Khan’s NHS plans.

Figures confirmed by Labour show almost 114,000 people from the capital will vote in both the party’s mayoral and leadership selections. They include 41,000 old members but also 21,000 who have joined since May.

There are also 25,000 registered supporters who paid a £3 fee to vote and 26,000 union members who “affiliated” to take part. Some 12,000 applicants were rejected, mainly because they were duplicates or officials could not verify details on the electoral register.

It is believed the majority of new people joining nationally are rallying to Left-winger Mr Corbyn’s banner. But in London mayoral hopefuls are struggling to work out who they will back for City Hall.

In a boost to former shadow justice secretary and Tooting MP Mr Khan, Mr Corbyn name-checked him in an article attacking hospital PFI deals.

He wrote: “Last week the Labour candidate for London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, highlighted the PFI debt afflicting London’s NHS hospitals... Khan’s proposed scheme for London is a start, but we cannot have a better deal for London than the rest of the country.”

Labour has admitted that in its drive to root out false applications to vote, people might have been excluded for abbreviating names on the form.

Insiders have confirmed the party used election canvass returns to try to verify applications.

The party has also said it will publish a breakdown of how union affiliates, members and supporters vote in the leadership ballot after initially refusing.This could show how new rules affect the results.@JoeWatts_

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