Jeremy Corbyn miles ahead in new Labour leadership poll

Seen as the most left-wing of the four candidates, Mr Corbyn’s increasing popularity comes despite a series of stark warnings from senior Labour figures that he could damage the party’s chances of beating the Conservatives in future elections.

She added: “This election is being fought under rules that were agreed by the whole party previous year”.

“All other politicians from both major parties are obsessed with people in the margins that are swaying but Corbyn is aiming his campaign at people that don’t already vote and aren’t interested in politics”, Mr Webb said.

The process – whereby people can sign up to vote by paying £3 – has led to concern that Tories may be trying to rig the vote in Corbyn’s favor to drag Labour away from the electoral middle ground. Otherwise we will fail to deliver the social justice and equality the Labour Party believes in and we won’t win the power to change peoples’ lives.

Ms Kendall, regarded as the Blairite candidate in the field, said in a radio interview: “I don’t think Jeremy’s policies are right for 2015, let alone 2020 or 2025”.

Unlike its counterparts in Stoke-on-Trent Central and South, which have backed Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham respectively, Stoke-on-Trent North CLP opted against lodging a supporting nomination for any candidate.

Earlier this week Harriet Harman, Labour’s acting leader, sent all Labour MPs the names of the recruits in their constituencies, and asked them to weed out known opponents.

After adjustments were made to allow for possible factors that could skew the results of the polling, the outcome remained a first-round “knockout” victory for Mr Corbyn, he said.

Mr Sheerman said although he may be able to pick up some “usual suspects”, many others would not be detected.

Leadership challenger Liz Kendall – seen as being the closest to Mr Blair’s policies – fiercely condemned the idea as a throwback to the failed ideas of leftwingers like the late Tony Benn.

Mr Burnham says that a Labour government led by him would “lift the millstone of debt” from students and replace fees with a graduate tax.

Labour insists that it has “robust” systems in place to prevent “fraudulent or malicious” applications.

He said: “We haven’t got time, interest, inclination or energy to involve ourselves in personal abuse of anybody”.

However, a spokesman confirmed that Mr Corbyn would seek to open up a discussion about “public ownership objectives for the 21st century” – including the railways – if he won the race to succeed Ed Miliband.

YouGov president Peter Kellner said he “would personally be astonished if Corbyn does not end up as Labour’s leader” despite voting not starting until Friday and the result not being declared until 12 September.