Mayor of London Sadiq Khan poses for the media on a Victoria line tube train carriage at Brixton Underground station in London during the launch of London’s Night Tube Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016.
Advertisement
Smith took just 53 nominations compared to 285 who backed the Labour leader, who took support from CLPs who nominated all three other candidates in 2015 – Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan joined the bitter battle over the leadership of Britain’s main opposition Labour Party Sunday by saying Jeremy Corbyn should be toppled.
Writing in the Observer, Mr Khan said Mr Corbyn had “totally failed” to get his messages across in the UK’s European Union referendum in June.
Stay on topic – This helps keep the thread focused on the discussion at hand. “We are people who want to create a more equal Britain”.
On the prospect of Republican nominee Donald Trump becoming USA president, Mr Smith said: “I’d be prepared to work with whoever the president was of America, that would be in the interests of the British people and we want a serious Labour government that would always act in the interests of the British people”.
Khan, elected Mayor of London in May after winning the job from the Conservative Party, says Labour faces all-but-certain defeat at the next general election without a change of leadership.
The result of the contest wil be announced at a special conference in Liverpool on September 24.
Responding to the boos, Smith criticised the “uncomradely” behaviour and said: “This is what is going wrong with the Labour Party”. Despite widespread criticism, he is still favored to win the leadership contest due to grassroots support. “He has lost the confidence of more than 80% of Labour’s MPs in parliament – and I am afraid we simply can not afford to go on like this”, Khan wrote.
Corbyn needs to beat former BBC producer Owen Smith in order to keep his post of the opposition leader.
He wrote: “By every available measure, if Jeremy remains as leader, Labour is extremely unlikely to win the next general election”.
Corbyn is favourite to win the leadership contest, supported by thousands of members who swept him to power previous year amid a desire for change, particularly among younger voters who face difficulty in getting jobs and owning homes.
Speaking on Friday, Mr Corbyn said his message appealed “all across the country”.
Advertisement
“For me he represents a different kind of politics, one where you treat people with respect and dignity and we get away from the era of spin”.
