A number of left-wing Oxford students, including activists Rowan Davis and Annie Teriba, have been barred from voting in the Labour Party leadership elections.
The Labour Party leadership election is operating under a “one member one vote” system following historic rule changes last year. As part of an attempt to “let the public in”, in the words of Acting Leader Harriet Harman, members of the public have been able to affiliate themselves with Labour as “registered supporters”, costing £3, entitling them to vote in the leadership elections for which ballot papers have now been sent out. After a surge of 120,000 people registering as supporters, the Labour Party decided to vet those who had just done so to ensure that they were aligned with the values of the Labour Party.
One member of the Oxford University Labour Club asked other members on its Facebook page to report those who have “recently signed up to the party as a member, supporter or affiliate” who they believe “are not … supporter(s) of Labour”. Members were asked to email the name of registered supporters with “proof” that they do not share the values of the Labour Party, including “facebook posts, photos or messages, tweets, texts, notices of polls or any other written expression of support for a party or group other than Labour or opposed to Labour.” The post has since been deleted, but has caused considerable controversy among those students who have been barred from voting as well as amongst other members.
One of the Oxford students who has been barred, Rowan Davis, commented to Cherwell, “It is a worryingly dystopian situation when members of our Labour Club are being asked to spy on left wing students in our university, in a blatant attempt for the right wing of the Labour Party to maintain their unrepresentative balance of power. Whilst I have not always supported the actions of the Labour establishment I strongly agree with the party’s founding principles of Socialism and liberation; to be refused entry as a supporter on these grounds is a damning indictment of the Labour Party.”
Davis, Teriba, and all those who have been denied a vote had received an e-mail from the Party’s General Secretary which stated that “We have reason to believe that you do not support the aims and values of the Labour Party or that you are a supporter of an organisation opposed to the Labour Party and therefore we are rejecting your application.”
The Oxford University Labour Club could not be contacted for comment, but the Labour Party posted an update by Harriet Harman on its Facebook page on Saturday. The statement responded to allegations that the leadership election could be disrupted by rogue voters, as well as to claims that the membership is being ‘purged’ of socialists in an attempt to lessen Jeremy Corbyn’s chances of victory. Harman condemned attempts to disrupt the election as “dishonest” and “shameful”, claiming that party officials “will do what we can to ensure that people who do not support the Labour Party and who support other parties will not get a vote. And that process is being undertaken very rigorously, very robustly, but with scrupulous fairness.”
