Voting in the long-running Labour leadership contest between Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith will close at noon today.
An estimated 640,000 party members have been eligible to cast a ballot, and the result will be announced at the Labour conference in Liverpool on Saturday.
Mr Corbyn, who was elected as party leader last September, is favourite to win the contest.
Last night, the frontrunner visited volunteers at the headquarters of the Unite union to thank them for their campaign efforts.
He told them: "Whatever the result is, we - all of us - have mounted the most incredibly campaign, mobilised a lot of people, and we've actually changed the political discourse in this country. Together we are very, very strong."
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell, a close ally of Mr Corbyn, has expressed confidence the incumbent leader will be re-elected.
He said: "The most important thing on Saturday - accept the mandate, respect the will of our members, unite, and then start preparing for a general election, and on that basis I think we can win an election and start transforming our country."
Mr McDonnell also claimed some members of the parliamentary Labour party have already expressed willingness to serve in Mr Corbyn's shadow cabinet should he be reappointed.
Meanwhile, Mr Smith has made a final push to woo undecided party members.
In an open letter, the MP for Pontypridd wrote: "Our party is at a crossroads, and the choice we face is between renewing our party to pursue unity and power, or satisfying ourselves with ongoing division and opposition.
"It's the clearest choice we have had to face in a generation.
"A choice that will not just determine the future of our party, but the future of the millions of people in Britain who need Labour in power."
Mr Smith acknowledged the leadership contest had been "long and bruising" in the letter, but insisted "it had to happen" if Labour were to enter government again - even if many people did not want the challenge to take place.
"Unless we have a radical, credible opposition to the Tories then we won't be able to stop them - now or at the next election."
As the clock ticks closer to the ballot closing, Labour remains in deadlock despite eight hours of talks on how best to form a shadow cabinet.
Mr Corbyn has proposed that ordinary party members should be allowed to have a say in who serves in the shadow cabinet - but deputy leader Tom Watson believes MPs should be responsible for electing their peers.
Despite the impasse, senior Labour figures - including Mr Watson and Jon Trickett - described the National Executive Committee meeting as "very positive".
:: Watch coverage of the Labour leadership announcement on Sky News from 11am on Saturday 24 September.
No comments:
Post a Comment