A Supreme Court summons seeking “urgent interim relief” has been filed by Curtis Dickinson and several others against Dawn Simmons, the chairwoman of the Progressive Labour Party, and Patricia Basden, the party’s secretary-general .

Mr Dickinson, a former finance minister who is challenging economy and labour minister Jason Hayward next month for the leadership of the ruling party, is named as plaintiff with Shea-tai Maurice Smith, Sheila Mareen Brown, Winifred Rose Stevens and Jay-Lee Maurice Smith.

The document, filed today, called for those named to respond this afternoon or “as soon as thereafter as counsel may be heard” on the plaintiffs’ application on the defendants.

It comes against a backdrop of unease within the ranks of the ruling party over a proposal put forward by David Burt, the PLP leader and Premier, at a party central committee meeting last month that people who publicly campaigned against the party in the past two general elections should be prevented from automatically joining as the PLP’s delegates’ conference looms in October.

That move concerns who might be eligible to choose delegates to select the next party leader, and whether new party members could qualify.

Mr Hayward was present in court this afternoon, along with Zane DeSilva, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Housing and Municipalities, education minister Diallo Rabain, backbencher Christopher Famous, PLP senator Lauren Hayward Bell, Ms Simmons and paralegal Eron Hill.

While the substance of the legal action was unclear, a party source said: “It clearly has to do with what the party passed at the central committee meeting, which was thought to be unconstitutional. I haven’t seen it, that’s only what I have heard, but there could be no other reason. They feel that what was done was unconstitutional.”

The source said the plaintiffs named with Mr Dickinson would almost certainly be “new members that have signed up”.

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