On the evening of 12 July, more than a fortnight after the rebellion against Jeremy Corbyn began, his opponents played their final card – and lost. A vote of no confidence by 81 per cent of Labour MPs and 65 frontbench resignations had failed to dislodge him. The rebels’ last hope of avoiding another leadership contest against Corbyn was forcing him to reseek nominations. After being backed by just 40 colleagues in the confidence vote, all sides knew that the leader would struggle to achieve 51 signatures from MPs and MEPs.
Legal advice provided to Labour had stated that the incumbent should not be automatically on the ballot. It was this view which was adumbrated by lawyer James Goudie when the National Executive Committee (NEC) assembled at the party’s Victoria Street headquarters on 12 July. Rebels had cited the precedent of 1988, when Neil Kinnock was challenged by Tony Benn and achieved the requisite nominations. “That’s the rules, and anyway, I’m not going to hide behind incumbency,” the then leader told his campaign manager Robin Cook.
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