Young Labour and Labour Students elections to be re-run after ‘administrative error’

Elections for officer positions within youth wings of the Labour Party are being re-run after an administrative error.

Another ballot for Young Labour and Labour Students elections will be held from next week after an incorrect membership freeze date was inadvertently applied when determining voter eligibility.

Candidates have been contacted and informed, with a new timetable agreed by Labour’s national executive committee.

No new candidates are permitted to stand in the re-run, but elections where a candidate stood unopposed are not being contested.

An email sent to candidates said that an “internal review” found that a membership freeze date used for parliamentary selections was “inadvertently applied”, rather than the one for internal ballots.

The email said: “Because of that administrative error, the electorate for the ballot wasn’t constituted correctly in line with the timetable approved by the NEC and the party’s rule book.

“It’s important to say that this issue only affected the ballot stage. The nomination process was run correctly, and all candidates met the proper requirements to stand.

“As a result, the NEC has agreed that the contested ballots for Young Labour and national committee of Labour Students elections will be re-run to ensure the process is fair and consistent with the party’s rules.”

New voting in the elections will open on March 25 and close on April 8.

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Emily Moore, who had been elected as the new chair of Young Labour, said she was “shocked” at the news, but was “very hopeful that people will put their faith in me again”.

She said: “Putting yourself forward isn’t easy and I know that there will be lots of candidates in the same position as me who’ll be finding this difficult to process.

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“Members deserve a democratic and transparent youth wing and I know that people are rightly angry. I’ll do all I can to support those affected and campaign to strengthen our structures and make sure this never happens again.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Due to an administrative error being identified, this year’s Young Labour and Labour Students national committee elections are being re-run.

“As soon as the party identified the error, immediate action was taken to review internal processes and proactive steps were taken to ensure these elections can be re-run swiftly.

“The new timetable has been communicated to candidates and members.”

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