Meanwhile, Labour’s leadership battle and inevitable split splashed on the front pages of British newspapers on July 13.
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But the 46-year-old has been a member of the Labour party since he was 16, and was special advisor to Paul Murphy, the Labour government minister in charge of Wales and then Northern Ireland, between 2002 and 2005.
A defiant Jeremy Corbyn said Labour MPs will understand they have to come together after it was agreed to automatically include him on the ballot in the party’s leadership contest.
Corbyn continues to have strong support among Labour supporters, who took to the streets in thousands after the attempted coup in the party following the Brexit vote.
The leadership contest was triggered on Monday when lawmaker Angela Eagle challenged Mr Corbyn.
She has ruled out calling an early general election – the next one is not due until 2020 – although some suggest she should capitalise on the disarray in Labour’s ranks.
“It can’t be just about people who paid to take part in the leadership election”.
Owen Smith is now the firm favourite to be the next Labour leader – while rival Angela Eagle is falling by the wayside.
Smith has thrown his hat into the ring after Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee, said Corbyn would automatically be on the ballot without needing to collect nominations from MPs.
It will now be up to the party’s 500,000 members to decide whether Corbyn should continue as leader, even though 172 of his own MPs backed a vote of no confidence in him.
“We can not present ourselves as a government in waiting without leadership and a leadership team that commands the respect and support of not only members.but Labour voters and potential Labour voters”.
In an interview with the BBC, she said: “I would say to the nine million Labour voters out there, there’s two days next week when you can actually pay £25, help save the Labour Party, make our democracy work and help me heal our country”. “And I am determined to win it”.
Mr Corbyn’s close ally and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: “Jeremy on the ballot”.
The victor is expected to be announced on the eve of the Labour Party conference on September 24.
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Party members will get an automatic right to vote only if they have been members for at least six months, eliminating the 130,000 who have joined since the referendum, believing they would get a vote.
