Answering questions after his launch speech, Mr Corbyn was asked to rule out supporting mandatory re-selection, which could give his supporters in the party’s grassroots the ability to oust his critics by replacing them as Labour candidates.
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In the immediate aftermath of the referendum, Labour MPs held a vote of no confidence in Corbyn, which he lost by 172 to 40.
Smith counts the support of 162 MPs, around 70 percent of the parliamentary party, in his leadership challenge.
Launching his leadership fightback, the Labour leader said it was the “responsibility of every Labour MP to get behind the party”. The pro-Corbyn faction of the party – propped up by the Momentum grassroots organisation – could take near-full control.
Mr Corbyn has in the past insisted he is not looking to deselect Labour MPs but went on to say that the boundary changes would mean “there will be a full and open selection process for every Constituency Labour Party throughout the whole of the United Kingdom”.
Mr Corbyn said his plan to combat discrimination in the workplace involved forcing companies with more than 21 employees to publish details of their employees’ working conditions, hours and pay.
Mr Smith, the former shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, and only challenger to Corbyn is very concerned about the future of the party which is “teetering on the brink of extinction” and could even disappear form the political landscape if it splits after the leadership contest.
Corbyn was swept to power in the leadership election in September 2015, helped by a boost in supporters who were able to vote for US$4.
During his campaign launch speech, he said if he remains as leader it will be “the job, the duty, the responsibility” of every Labour MP to “get behind the party” and take on the Conservative government.
In addition to the 183,000 new members, the final verdict on Labour’s leadership will be given by a party members who signed up before January, estimated at 388,407 by the Guardian.
The Labour leader said he thought “the polls will change and improve for us” once his leadership crisis has been settled. Mr Smith said today: “I was furious that we were sitting there with a Tory Government that has imposed swingeing cuts on public services, on tax credits, on universal credit and we are taking lectures from them about social justice and economic fairness”.
“We need to change that, we can not continue – it doesn’t matter who wins this leadership campaign, those wounds will still be there and they need to be mended”, she told BBC Radio 4’s World at One.
In an echo of the five “giant evils” identified by William Beveridge in the 1940s, Mr Corbyn will say: “Today what is holding people back above all are inequality, neglect, insecurity, prejudice and discrimination”.
“I don’t just think this has been bad for the Labour Party”.
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But less than 48 hours later there are signs that this approach could be hard to maintain, with Team Smith rushing to rebut claims by Corbyn.
