Angela Eagle drops out of race to topple UK Labour leader

Ms Eagle has since withdrawn from the leadership race and backed Welsh MP Owen Smith as the parliamentary party seeks to unseat Mr Corbyn from the top job.

Corbyn has cited strong support among grassroots members, saying it would be a betrayal to quit.

Little did voters know that the two unsuccessful candidates in that election would become leaders of political parties.

He was widely criticised by his party members of leading a weak “remain” campaign in the lead-up to Britain’s referendum on its membership in the European Union. There isn’t another politician in the Labour Party capable of doing that.

In a further sign of discontent, Labour MPs heckled Corbyn in the Commons last night after he failed to back his own party’s position of supporting the renewal of the Trident UK’s nuclear weapons system. Many members who intend to vote for Corbyn are unaware however of the damage this support could cause to Labour’s future.

Although Ms Eagle’s figures have not been released, the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg said she understood she had got 25 fewer.

The poll suggests that Mr Corbyn has become more popular among party members since his leadership was challenged and that he would defeat Mr Smith by more than 20 points.

More information will be posted here about the ongoing problems, as we receive it.

A High Court claim brought by Labour donor Michael Foster, a former parliamentary candidate, is now against one named defendant – the party’s general secretary Iain McNicol, who is being sued in a representative capacity.

We are a step closer to bringing this sorry contest to an end, however. “Well, it just keeps making us prime minister”, she said. They have been out of office since 2010. “We’ve been on the sidelines for too long”, Smith said.

“I think it says that as a young man working on a radio programme, the Today programme where there was a bit of a culture of bullying, I made a very silly decision”, he said.

“It’s time to move on from Jeremy”. Just look at what he says, look at how he talks about his politics, look into his background as well’.

Newport West MP Mr Flynn said he “fervently” hoped the leadership contest would be a unifying process.

A brick was thrown a ground floor window at her constituency office in Liscard.

Speaking after Eagle’s withdrawal, Smith, 46, promised he could lead the party to power and still be as radical as Corbyn – a veteran anti-war campaigner elected by party supporters last September on a pledge to return Labour to its socialist roots.