High Court challenge could force Jeremy Corbyn to drop out of Labour leadership race
He is currently running without the backing of any Labour MPs
A LABOUR donor has “at least a 50/50 chance” of forcing Jeremy Corbyn off the leadership race ballot in a court action tomorrow insiders say.
Businessman Michael Foster is bringing the High Court action to overturn a party decision to allow their hard left boss to run without any MPs’ nominations.
Sources close to former parliamentary candidate Mr Foster say his legal team think he has a good chance of winning as the hotly disputed wording of the party’s rules wording favours him.
If judges go against the Opposition Leader, he may fail to win the support of the 51 Labour MPs he needs and would be forced to stand aside – sparking uproar among his hardcore supporters.
Former showbusiness agent Mr Foster has given £400,000 to Labour since 2010.
A Jewish activist, he heckled Mr Corbyn at Labour’s conference last year during a Friends of Israel gathering for failing to say the words “Jew” or “Israel”.
Mr Foster has taken on prominent QC Gavin Millar, a champion of press freedom.
But Mr Corbyn’s allies think the judge – Hon. Mr Justice Foskett – will throw out the case and refuse to intervene in the internal row.
A source close to the Labour leader said: “We’re told this has no chance of succeeding, and we expect the judge to deal with it swiftly”.
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