Frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn today won the Labour leadership contest with 59.5% of the vote – a predictably huge majority.
His Deputy will be Tom Watson, who beat Stella Creasy and Caroline Flint to the punch with over 193,000 votes.
Murdoch-beating Watson should be a boon for transparency.
It represents an entirely new Labour in many ways. These will be interesting times ahead.
Supporter Hannah Salt, a typical Corbyn voter in Salford, said that hope had won out.
“I just think people have voted for authenticy.
“It feels good to have a Labour leader who has strongly challenged false narratives about migration and the deficit that the Conservative and right wing press have been feeding us.
“I was really impressed by Corbyn’s campaign, it was straight-up, dignified and despite the toxic attacks, he’s maintained his integrity and refused to ‘go negative’. For me he was the only real option, we need this kind of leader now.”
Leigh MP Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper – Corbyn’s closest rivals for leader – were never really in the race. Between 70 and 80,000 votes to their new boss’s 255,000.
It represents a dramatic shift to the left for Labour and is expected to produce a voice of real Opposition.
Can he continue the juggernaut of momentum? Can he follow through? Many are sceptical.
For the Conservatives Corbyn is both a gift and a curse – a backbench MP for 32 years, now thrust into the limelight.
Hope is difficult to oppose, but it won’t sustain him for long. Now the real work begins.
