Labour leadership vote result 'will be final', insists interim party boss amid legal challenge threat

Jeremy Corbyn remains clear favourite to secure top party post

Harriet Harman has dismissed calls to halt the contest (Getty)

The acting Labour party leader has insisted the outcome of next month's party leadership election will be final.

Harriet Harman declared that “whoever is elected on 13 September, they will have been legally elected and that decision will stand.”

Speaking to the BBC, Ms Harman also stressed that party rules would be applied in a “rigorous, fair, robust and even-handed way” and that any Conservatives who had attempted to register as supporters in an attempt to vote in the election were "dishonest and shameful."

It comes after fellow leadership contender Andy Burnham's campaign team suggested the result would be challenged legally if he did not win.

His camp have written to Labour HQ demanding a meeting for next week between the four prospective leaders, who also include strong favourite Jeremy Corbyn, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall.

Mr Burnham’s team claimed there was clear evidence of 'entryism' from supporters of other parties and warned "several thousand" Tories might have registered to influence the vote.

In a letter to the Labour party’s general secretary Iain McNicol, Labour MP and chairman of Mr Burnham’s campaign Michael Dugher warned that the outcome of the election could be subject to legal challenge unless the party takes immediate action.

“We are also concerned that given the party’s limited resources and the effort required to investigate applicants, this could result in the integrity of the contest being called into question, and the outcome subject to legal challenge," the letter said.

Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn speaks in Newcastle (PA)

Accusations of an infiltration of Tories into the Labour ranks have led to claims of a so-called ‘Labour purge’, after many have been denied their vote.

Former MP George Galloway also weighed in to the debate, tweeting: “It is possible to glimpse the beginning of the biggest ever scandal in British democracy today. A hijacking of the labour leadership contest.”

Mr Corbyn remains the overwhelming favourite to become the next Labour leader, enjoying significant leads in several opinion polls.