Reuters – Jeremy Corbyn today as he was re-elected Labour leader at the party’s conference in Liverpool.
Jeremy Corbyn has been re-elected as leader of the Labour party, beating his rival Owen Smith and winning a slightly bigger mandate than when he succeeded the former leader Ed Miliband last year.
Corbyn won 313,209 (61.8 per cent) to Smith’s 193,229 (38.2 per cent).
Corbyn was first elected Labour leader in September 2015, when he beat three other candidates and gained 59.5 per cent of the vote.
Turnout was higher this time, with 77.6 per cent of the 640,500 eligible party members, trade union members and registered supporters confirmed as taking part.
Corbyn, who said he was “honoured” by the victory, issued a rallying cry for Labour to re-unite and declared that he would “wipe the slate clean” after a summer of debate and disagreement. The time had come to turn Labour’s fire on the Tories, the re-elected leader said.
“Together arguing for the real change this country needs I have no doubt that this party can win the next general election,” Corbyn said.
The Labour leader, who repeatedly referred to the “Labour family”, added: “We have much more in common than that which divides us; let’s wipe that slate clean from today and get on with the work we’ve got to do as a party together.”
Andy Flannagan, the Director of Christians on the Left, told Christian Today that the result bucked the trend of disillusionment in politics.
“In an age where many comment on the public’s disenchantment with politics, this election has shown that many more people are bucking that trend, discovering that they have a voice, and have joined the Labour Party,” he said. “It now has over four times as many members as the Conservative Party. The challenge, as Donald Trump will hopefully discover in November, is that enthusiasm and numbers at events where everyone already agrees with you, does not necessarily help make the case to the wider public. As Christians on the Left, we look forward to working with Jeremy and his team to help them do that.”
