Labour leadership: Mid-October result to follow drawn-out process

THE new Labour leader is likely to be announced in the middle of October following a drawn-out election process involving the entire party membership.

The party’s nationalexecutive meets this Saturday to lay down the ground rules for the procedure to pick Pat Rabbitte’s successor as leader.

Essentially it will decide what the dates will be for the close of nominations, for the return of ballots and for the counting of votes.

Under party rules, the election must take place within 45 days of the close of nomination. The date for candidates to declare will be in early September. That will result in an election date probably between October 15-18,according to party sources.

Only members who have paid subscriptions for two consecutive years are entitled to vote. Of the estimated 8,000 members, between 4,000 and 5,000 will be entitled to vote.

There are several constituencies with large blocks of votes because of strong local organisations. They include Willie Penrose’s constituency of Longford-Westmeath (with 400 votes) and Kildare North (with 200 votes) where Emmet Stagg is the Labour TD.

The candidate preference of Mr Penrose and Mr Stagg will be decisive as they will have a strong sway on their supporters in their constituencies.