UK Labour Party issues ballots for hotly contested leadership race

MEMBERS of the Labour Party can expect their ballot papers to drop through their letter boxes over the next few days. There are four candidates, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Jeremy Corbyn and Liz Kendall.
Although the other three are all members of the Shadow Cabinet, Jeremy Corbyn, who is perhaps the most radical of the candidates, appears to have emerged as the ´front runner´ in this leadership election.
There have been surprising numbers of new members signing up to the Labour Party in the lead up to this election, many of whom are young voters who see an opportunity to have their voices heard. Cynics however have expressed the opinion that members of other political parties have signed up to Labour in order to try to influence the election of the new leader.
All votes must be in by September 10 and the announcement of the winner is due to be made on September 12. The ballot is using the Alternative Vote System so that if no candidate receives 50 per cent of votes cast, the candidate in fourth place will be eliminated and their second preference votes will then be distributed among the remaining three.
This process will continue until a final winner is declared and he or she will then have nearly five years to prepare for the next general election.