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7 September 2015

Burnham and Cooper camps deny calling for Labour leadership result to be delayed

Corbyn rivals say they are not behind reported demand to extend contest over missing ballots. 

By George Eaton

On Saturday morning, Labour’s three-month long leadership contest will finally end when the result is announced at the QEII Centre in Westminster. But it could yet be delayed? MailOnline reports that one candidate is preparing to call for voting to be extended for three days owing to a significant number not having recieved their ballot papers. 

It is Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper who have a plausible interest in the race being extended. Jeremy Corbyn is on course to finish first and Liz Kendall has long been resigned to finishing fourth. But both camps have denied calling for the result to be delayed. Burnham aide Katie Myler tweeted: “For the record, Andy’s campaign has not called for a delay in the voting process.” A spokeswoman for Cooper also denied being behind the proposal, telling me that “It’s the responsiblility of the Labour Party to ensure all eligible voters receive their ballots. We are not aware at the moment of significant issues with this.” Cooper’s campaign have said that as much as half of the Labour selectorate have yet to vote, while Burnham’s suggest that the figure is closer to a third. Turnout in the 2010 contest was 70 per cent. 

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