UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has urged his colleagues to “turn passion into action, ideas into reality” hours ahead of the leadership announcement.
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Gareth Thomas, who nominated Jeremy Corbyn for last year’s leadership contest only to vote for a more centrist candidate, said: “Labour will now have to unite to focus our attack on Theresa May’s Tory (Conservative) Party”.
His challenger, Owen Smith, polled 38 per cent votes in an election that some believed was not necessary and in which Corbyn’s election was seen as a foregone conclusion.
This was the second victory for Mr Corbyn, who was first elected last September, as he saw off his opponent Owen Smith by 313,209 votes to 193,229.
He also offered an olive branch to opposing factions in the Labour Party and said now the results were in the “slate would be wiped clean”.
The Scottish Labour leader said the re-elected United Kingdom leader could go on to be a Prime Minister but only if he proved capable of uniting the divided party.
And he sought to address this in his victory speech as he told members that Labour had more in common than divided it.
The party’s leadership campaign has been a bruising one, defined by bitter confrontation between supporters of the left-wing leader and more moderate MPs.
“We must set forward positive and concrete Labour solutions to the daily fears and concerns they face. I will do everything I can to repay the trust and support”, 67-year-old Corbyn said.
Smith, who had previously said he would not return to the front bench congratulated Corbyn on the result and said he would consider ways to help the Labor party win the next election.
“Already I’ve had on my phone, and over text, messages of support from people who want to get on with it and get on board and get out there campaigning and that’s what we’ll be doing”.
More than 750 Corbyn supporters celebrated his win at an event held by the pro-Corbyn Momentum organisation in Liverpool.
He said Labour’s willingness to openly debate issues is “an essential part of what has drawn over half a million people into membership of what is now the largest political party in western Europe”.
The veteran socialist otherwise may have struggled to obtain the 51 nominations necessary from Labour MPs or MEPs (members of the European Parliament), after losing the support of 75 percent of Labour lawmakers in a no-confidence vote in June.
The MP for Pontypridd, who emerged as Corbyn’s challenger after Angela Eagle dropped out of the race, billed himself as a “credible” opposition leader in waiting who could make Labour electable again.
Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham was among those calling for MPs to back Mr Corbyn.
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He and other MPs know there is no room for two Labour parties in the current political landscape.
