EXCL Jeremy Corbyn supporters heading for victory in crucial Labour election
2 min read
Supporters of Jeremy Corbyn are set to win a major victory over Labour moderates in a key election, PoliticsHome has learned.
Former Communication Workers Union boss Billy Hayes and senior party activist Seema Chandwani are on course to win places on Labour's powerful conference arrangements committee (CAC).
The left-wing pair are tipped to unseat Labour MP Gloria de Piero and former MEP Michael Cashman, who are currently members of the body which decides what is debated at the party's annual conference.
Their victory would be a huge boost for Mr Corbyn in his attempts to radically re-shape the party under his leadership.
It would mean that his wing of the party would hold the upper-hand when deciding what issues are debated and voted on at Labour's annual get-together.
Voting in the crunch ballot closes on 8 September and the result is due to be announced the following week.
However, senior party insiders believe that with the vast majority of the party membership solidly behind the leader, the result is a foregone conclusion.
One told PoliticsHome: "It's going to be very hard for Michael and Gloria to win with the current membership."
However, even if Mr Hayes and Ms Chandwani do win, Ashfield MP Ms de Piero and Mr Cashman will remain on the CAC for this year's conference.
Ms de Piero appealed for Labour members to support her in a video posted on her Twitter page.
Meanwhile, Mr Corbyn today refused to deny reports that Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham - who have been critical of him in the past - will not get to speak from the stage at next month's Labour conference in Brighton.
He said: "We haven't even decided who's speaking at conference yet."
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
