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Labour leadership contest: Who are the party's new members? - BBC Newsnight
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January 30, 2020
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4:24Now PlayingThe Labour Party's membership has risen to a record high, having increased by about 100,000 since the election. But who are the new members and how will they influence the result of the Labour leadership contest?
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Newsnight has been told by a source on Labour's ruling body, the National Executive Committee, that the new total figure is 576,000.
That would surpass the increase seen during the 2015 leadership contest.
The latest rise in numbers has been driven by the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn, with the ballot to replace him opening on 21 February.
The last recorded high was in December 2017, where the total number reached 567,400. The party experienced a gradual decrease in membership numbers from 2018 onwards.
This trend only slowly started to be arrested as the general election approached but has reversed quickly in the weeks following.
All of these new members, so long as they joined before 20 January, will be able to vote in the party's upcoming leadership and deputy leadership contest.
Newsnight is the BBC's flagship news and current affairs TV programme - with analysis, debate, exclusives, and robust interviews.
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