Certainly the response that Labour MPs are getting from their memberships so far – and the bulk of CLP nominations for Corbyn – suggest that Smith may be able to keep his nomination as a consolation prize after a defeat.
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Mr Corbyn hit back, saying: “Owen, our party is a strong party, it’s a big party”.
“There are Trots that have come back to the party, and they certainly don’t have the best interests of the Labour Party at heart”, Watson said in an interview with the Guardian newspaper.
Indeed, 45% of those who voted for Labour at the last general election say he is performing badly in his role as party leader.
But Smith, who is relatively unknown in national politics, accused Corbyn of weak leadership and said it was vital to “translate our principles into power”.
Mr Miliband said the new prime minister, Theresa May, had adopted the “language of the left” but could pull Britain to the right.
Smith said his first act as leader would be to create a full shadow cabinet-something Corbyn has struggled to do following a wave of resignations.
“So I try to keep a straight face, which everyone always interprets as me looking really sad and miserable”.
“Sooner or later, that always end up in disaster”.
“During the referendum you seemed to have undergone a Damascene conversion”, said Mr Smith. “I’m sure they understand the motivation of the very large number of people that have joined the party”.
“I would not, as Jeremy has done, vote against my party 500 times”.
Mr Corbyn questioned whether they should continue in the darkness, while Mr Smith joked: “I blame the Tories”.
He also said he barely spoke to Mr Corbyn anymore and told how he had tried to have a frank discussion with him during a vehicle journey after the coup but the leader’s aides had got involved, making things very hard.
“Jeremy can’t do that and that’s why we need to change the leader of the Labour party”.
Former leadership contender Andy Burnham, named as Labour’s candidate for mayor of Greater Manchester yesterday, attacked that suggestion.
Responding to the criticism, the Manchester mayoral hopeful insisted he is in a “different position” to other MPs because he pledged to support Mr Corbyn after losing to him past year.
Barrow’s MP, John Woodcock, now chairs Labour’s backbench defence committee, which recently produced an extensive report into why the party should back the case for building a new generation of submarines – known as the Successor fleet.
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The Corbyn team slammed the accusations as “baseless” and part of the right-wing of the Labour party’s “Project Fear”.
