Jeremy Corbyn tightens grip on Labour by making it easier for outsiders like him to get elected as leader
Today the party's ruling body voted in favour of moves to radically shake up the rules around selecting MPs and their leader.
JEREMY CORBYN last night tightened his grip on the Labour party after its ruling body backed plans to hand more power to his left-wing supporters.
The proposal to ensure MPs have less say over choosing their leader was approved by the National Executive Committee and will go forward to the party’s annual conference in Brighton this weekend.
A candidate now needs the support of 10 per cent of MPs or MEPs to stand rather than 15 per cent - which would have allowed the leftie boss to easily get on the platform had the rules applied in 2015.
The activist group Momentum's shake-up will make it easier for previously niche voices like Jez to run.
The move was seen as a compromise against even more extreme supporters - who wanted the threshold lowered to just five per cent.
Former shadow minister Michael Dugher condemned the move, saying: “Now you can stand to be Labour leader with the backing of only one in ten of your own colleagues in Parliament.”
The National Executive also agreed to raise the number of local party representatives - which members are able to vote for.
And most of the delegates at next week's conference support the plans,
Fresh from his election successes in June where the party won an extra 30 seats, Mr Corbyn is set to toughen his grip on Labour when it gathers in Brighton at the end of the month.
Just hours before the polls closed, senior sources in the Labour Party were claiming a Tory majority of 50 seats would be a "success".
The party's ruling exec will discuss the proposals to be put to the conference later today.
The group who helped Mr Corbyn get elected as leader are keen for him to stamp his authority and ensure the party stays on the far-left of British politics for years to come.
In the past few years the party has soared in membership - and Momentum lefties have taken over various local branches across the country.
But the leader is facing fresh humiliation after Arab ambassadors cancelled their event at Labour's conference after the party banned Saudi Arabia and Sudan from attending.
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The League of Arab States wrote to all Labour MPs earlier this week announcing their decision to cancel their annual reception and buffet dinner at the party’s conference.
And The Sun revealed earlier this month that members of Mr Corbyn’s frontbench will attend a “Venezuela Solidarity Campaign” event at the conference - hosted by the country’s ambassador Rocio Manerio - despite the brutal clampdown on opposition parties inflicted by the Venezuelan tyrant Nicolas Maduro.