The by-election was triggered after long-serving Labour MP Michael Meacher died earlier this year.
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The results were spectacular as McMahon, on admittedly a lower turnout than May, had been able to increase Labour’s share of the vote in Oldham West and Royton.
Mr Corbyn hailed the result as a “vote of confidence in our party”, while Mr McMahon dismissed Mr Farage’s accusations, saying: “There is nothing wrong with people making a democratic decision not to support Ukip”.
Some, including one of Jeremy Corbyn’s fiercest internal critics, John Mann, have already identified Mr McMahon as a future Labour leader.
In an attack on Momentum, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today: ‘They look like a bit of a rabble to me, but I don’t think they are a problem for the Labour Party.
Labour has held the former industrial town outside Manchester for decades and in May’s national election won it with a majority of more than 14,000.
“It’s evident from the reports I’m seeing that the local muslim community stayed pretty solid with Labour and indeed this seems to be the cause of complaint from Nigel Farage”, he said.
While a Labour defeat in a safe Labour seat might have suggested things were not looking good for Mr Corbyn, a Labour victory in a safe Labour seat is not necessarily an indication of anything.
Numbers of postal votes rose by 15 per cent on Thursday, with people handing in bundles of voting slips on behalf of other voters in “processes that shouldn’t really be happening in a modern democracy”, Mr Farage claimed.
Mr Corbyn visited Oldham on Friday to hail Mr McMahon’s victory, declaring that it “shows the way we have driven the Tories back on tax credits, police cuts, on their whole austerity agenda and narrative”.
“There are no doubt a lot of people there who are mildly eccentric but what we need is boots on the ground, getting voters who have been kicked off the voting list back and getting onto campaigning on exorbitant rents and all that”.
The rise of Jeremy Corbyn apparently gave them the ideal villain to rail against.
“To use an issue of such importance to try to divide the Labour Party is reprehensible”, said Mr Watson.
“It’s a clear demonstration that Labour is the party working people trust”.
This is exactly what Corbyn and the Labour needed after a disastrous couple of weeks leading up to Wednesday night’s vote to bomb Syria.
Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson has urged fellow Labour MPs to stop sniping and unite around party leader Jeremy Corbyn. We must redouble our efforts to achieve a fairer Britain.
Responding to Mr Livingstone’s comments on deselection, he said: “I think a period of silence from Ken Livingstone would be very welcome”.
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“But clearly there is a mood to ensure that the policies on which Jeremy Corbyn stood in defence of public services, in defence of workers’ rights, in defence of people’s living standards and so on are actually seen through”.
