Labour leadership election voting deadline looms as Tom Watson plots rule change

Labour's so-called 'selectorate' have just 24 hours left to vote in the party's latest leadership election, with polls closing at 12.00pm tomorrow (21 September). Jeremy Corbyn is hoping to retain the top job, while former shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith is looking to dethrone him.

Bookmakers, Constituency Labour Party nominations and the latest opinions polls have Corbyn, who attracted almost 60% of the vote in 2015, ahead. But Smith insisted to IBTimes UK that he was still in the race last week.

"Don't write me off until the final whistle, is all that I ask," he said. Smith's biggest coup of the campaign was to win the support of the 600,000-strong GMB Union, which put its endorsement to a vote of its members.

The winner of the contest will be announced on 24 September at Labour's annual conference in Liverpool. Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, meanwhile, has called for the party's election rules to be changed.

The West Bromwich MP wants to exclude registered supporters – people who can pay a one-off £25 fee – from having a say in future elections. But the offer has reportedly attracted more than 100,000 voters to the party's election.

Labour's governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), will discuss the proposal and a plan to bring back shadow cabinet elections when it meets this afternoon.

Although Corbyn is not expected to put any specific proposals to the NEC today, a source close to the leader told IBTimes UK he would like to see shadow cabinet elections as part of a "wider review of party democracy". The move could see the governing body meeting after Labour's conference, followed by a consultation.