In August 2015, it was reported that Loughton was amongst a number of supporters of other political parties who had paid £3 to register to join the Labour Party in an attempt to participate in its leadership election. He subsequently said he had registered using his parliamentary email account to reveal "what a complete farce the whole thing is." He said that he was open in his intent and would not have actually voted. He was subsequently removed form the Labour party registered supporters list and not granted a vote in the Labour Leadership election. The fee paid by Loughton to register to a supporter of the Labour Party was retained as a donation by the Labour Party.