Corbyn And Owen Smith, Neck And Neck

[Gromit]

A YouGov poll for the Times today gives Corbyn a paltry 24 point lead over Smith. In what could be a photo finish, Corbyn is expected to poll 62% with Smith just behind him on 38%.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/31/jeremy-corbyn-takes-huge-24-point-lead-over-owen-smith-in-labour/

How can Corby expect to carry on if he only has two thirds of the members supporting him?

[youngmafbog]

I think we all knew the outcome before it all started.

[Khandro]

//How can Corby expect to carry on if he only has two thirds of the members supporting him?//

He'll carry on because he believes he is "right",
He reminds me of the epitaph to a German motorist "He died, but he had the priority!"

[agchristie]

What bothers me is that 38% would back Smith bearing in mind his thought processes on IS.

If he had his way we'd all be in the s***!!

[Mick-the-Miller]

The Labour Party have lost their collective minds - the analogy that occurs to me is that of Turkeys voting for Christmas!

[Buenchico]

It could make for an interesting constitutional problem for the Privy Council if Jeremy Corbyn was the official leader of the Labour Party but Labour MPs refused to recognise him as such and, instead, accepted Owen Smith as their leader.

The Privy Council would have to decide which of them should be the Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition (and receive the additional salary which goes with the title).

Since the leader of the MPs actually forming Her Majesty's Opposition would be Owen Smith it would seem to be logical that he should be given the title (and the money), even though he's not the leader of the largest party that's not in government (which goes against the normal constitutional way of doing things).

[DTCwordfan]

being socialists, they could split their total salaries in two, ensuring equality after paying for Virgin Train seats of course....

[jim360]

It would be hilarious if the result ended up being 52-48 in Corbyn's favour.

[agchristie]

^ that prospect does not sound 'appealing'!

[Bertrum]

Well thats Labour definately unelectable as oposed to probably unelectable for the next decade

[ToraToraTora]

"How can Corby expect to carry on if he only has two thirds of the members supporting him? " - err he's 100% better off than the guy with 1 third I'd say! Sorry gromit I miss the point of your question here, are you saying that the leader of the party should have more than 2 thirds really? Or is this some attempt at humour that I have failed to notice?

[jim360]

I think it's the latter. I don't think even Owen Smith thinks he has a chance of winning. The entire leadership election is a waste of time.

[agchristie]

Not so Jim:-

Mr Smith insisted he still believes he can win the contest - and warned the alternative for Labour is “electoral annihilation”.

"I'm in this contest to win it and that's exactly what I intend to do,” Mr Smith said today.

[jim360]

That may be what he says, but if he actually believes it he's a moron (and indeed, possibly if he doesn't believe it).

[agchristie]

I think he believes it because the man is completely deluded as demonstrated by much rot that he talks.

[ChillDoubt]

Well, if UK opinion polls are anything to go by there was going to be a hung Parliament at the last election, so figure that one out.
But isn't the contest as a whole utterly nonsensical when more than 70% of his own MP's have no confidence in JC? Seems that party members are at polar opposites with the MP's they elected!
Baffling.......

[agchristie]

Chill,whatever the polls say it is still a boxing match with two in the red corner and May in the blue corner who doesn't even need her gloves on...

[ichkeria]

Corbyn's implied claim to have a more democratic mandate than his MPs is rather dubious. His mandate should be at least as strong from party members actuslly elected by, and regularly in contact with, their constituents, rather than from unelected party members, many of whom have joined the party very recently and baby of them plainly for rather dubious reasons. Sadly it is going to take an electoral cataclysm for many people to see sense

[Gromit]

Ich,
No one who joined the Labour Party this year is allowed to vote in this election. So the rent-a-mob accusation doesn't really stick. No one knew in December, a couple of months after Corbyn,s huge victory (Corbyn 60%, Burnham 20%) that the leadership election would be re-run.

People keep forgetting that the Blairites have lost the last two general elections. The Party has to change, but seems reluctant to do so. The MPs want to follow the discredited Blair ToryLite policies, but the membership don't want that.

[jim360]

"People keep forgetting that the Blairites have lost the last two general elections."

Actually it was the Brownites (literally, in the case of 2010) who lost the elections.