Constituency nominations for the Labour leadership closed today and it’s a landslide for Jeremy Corbyn. The incumbent won 285 (84 per cent) compared to Owen Smith’s 53, a larger margin of victory than last year when he won 39 per cent (152/387). Based on these numbers, most believe Corbyn will come close to matching his 2015 performance (when he won 60 per cent of the vote). My instinct, as I’ve written before, is that the Labour leader is on course for re-election.
But Smith’s supporters insist they have cause for hope. They point out that more votes were cast in the GMB members’ ballot (which the challenger won) than in constituency parties. Nearly half didn’t nominate at all. Turnout among those that did ranged from around 7 per cent to 15 per cent with most members staying home.
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