Jeremy Corbyn surges ahead with 32 point lead

According to the YouGov survey for The Times, the left-wing backbencher has nearly doubled his lead over closest rival Andy Burnham – despite numerous Labour figures lining up to discredit his leadership bid.

The shadow health secretary said that Mr Corbyn’s suggestion that Mr Blair should face a trial for war crimes was “provocative”.

The veteran left-winger, who entered the contest as an outsider, is on course to win in the first round according to a YouGov poll of 1,411 Labour supporters.

Bookmakers cut their odds that Jeremy Corbyn will win the United Kingdom opposition Labour Party’s leadership election after a YouGov Plc poll showed another surge in support for the anti-austerity candidate. All five of the candidates to be deputy leader have said they would be happy to serve under Corbyn.

A spokeswoman for Yvette Cooper’s campaign said: “This does not reflect our extensive phone banking data, which does not suggest any single candidate will receive 50% of first preferences”.

Corbyn has faced criticism during his leadership campaign for calling Arab groups Hamas and Hezbollah “friends, ” and insisting they be involved in regional peace talks”.

Corbyn, the MP for Islington North, added that he realised there are “sensitivities” on the issue and people hold differing views.

He added that Mr Campbell should decide whether he had been a “helpful part” of the debate.

Mr Stringer said because the old qualifying period for new party members does not apply, ‘you can’t now know if, for example, someone is simply a Tory signing up to damage the Labour Party‘.

But he described “Corbynmania” as a “bit embarrassing”.

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Ballot papers will be sent out from Friday.

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Their second preference votes are then redistributed among the remaining three hopefuls. “She is best placed to unite the party and position Labour for victory in the 2020 election”.

Former Labour prime minister Tony Blair warned it would be impossible to win an election from a “traditional leftist platform”, while his ex-communications chief Alastair Campbell said a victory for Mr Corbyn would be a “car crash” and urged supporters to vote for “anyone but Corbyn“.

Graham Stringer has spoken to interim leader Harriet Harman about the move and now plans to write to the party’s ruling executive committee.

Jeremy Corbyn, the surprise frontrunner in Labour’s leadership race, has been accused by his rivals of trying to “turn back the clock” to the Seventies after suggesting that he would reinstate Clause Four, Labour’s historic commitment to the public ownership of industry.

Earlier this week, Labour MP Barry Sheerman said the contest should be halted so an investigation could be launched into the “malign” motives of some of those signing up to vote.