It is claimed that Corbyn's overwhelming success in the leadership election last year was the result of registered supporters being allowed to vote. This, in turn, led to a suggestion that people with no regard for the Labour Party are now influencing the direction of the party.
In September last year the Independent reported:
"During the leadership campaign there had been some speculation that the left-winger [Corbyn] was receiving support mainly from people who had paid £3 to register as supporters from outside the party but not from full members.
"However, Mr Corbyn received 121,751 first preferences votes from full Labour members, well over double the number of his nearest rival Andy Burnham, who won 55,698. Yvette Cooper took 54,470 and Liz Kendall took 13,601."
As to the accusations about Corbyn supporters being members of some sort of menacing cult, I attended a local party meeting on Thursday evening which had been organised in order that a vote might be taken as to which candidate represented the majority choice for the local Labour Party membership. Over 300 people attended and they appeared to be a cross-section of society, i.e. of all ages, backgrounds and ethnicities.
Before the vote was taken, five volunteer speakers' names were drawn to speak in support of their choice of candidate. Each speaker was listened to respectfully, without boos, hissing, or heckling and was clapped by all members of the audience on conclusion of their speech. The vote was then taken and the result was 200+ to Corbyn and 100+ to Smith.