Jeremy Corbyn Wins Labour Leadership Election By A Landslide

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Jeremy Corbyn is the new leader of the Labour Party after winning in a landslide with 60 per cent of the votes.

The result is one of the most sensational victories in British political history as veteran left-wing MP Corbyn, who was 200/1 to win at the start of the campaign, stormed to victory.

The 66-year-old swept to the win over former Cabinet members Andy Burnham (19%) and Yvette Cooper (17%), and Shadow Care Minister Liz Kendall (4.5%), after he initially only received enough MP’s nominations to get on to the ballot just minutes before the deadline last month.

Corbyn has benefited from a surge of support as new Labour members joined the party after the general election, with the Islington North MP inspiring many disenfranchised voters and young people to sign up.

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Speaking after his win, he said the leadership campaign “showed our party and our movement, passionate, democratic, diverse, united and absolutely determined in our quest for a decent and better society that is possible for all”.

An MP since 1983, Mr Corbyn is known for his rebellious nature and his opposition to the Iraq War, as well as policies such as renationalisation of the railway and energy industries.

Numerous Labour figures and other political commentators had warned against voting for Corbyn, fearing that it will make the party too left-wing and stop the party from winning another election, as his views are similar to when the party was frequently kept out of power by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980’s.

After Corbyn’s win, Twitter was flooded with messages of support and celebration, as well as a number of tweets from people unhappy with the result.

Mainly though, people just took the p*ss…

https://twitter.com/DickieA/status/642613006959005696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Tom Watson, an MP since 2001, won the Labour deputy leader election and the next few years look set to be a fascinating time for British politics.

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