There has been a huge spike in Labour membership, as over 180 thousand people paid £25 to become registered supporters of the party in 48 hours. The amount of sing-ups in this space of time is more than the Tories have in total.
It is assumed that many of these new recruits to the Labour ranks will vote for Jeremy Corbyn in the upcoming leadership contest against Owen Smith. Without paying the inflated fee by the Wednesday deadline, they would not have been able to vote for their new leader.
There has been widespread criticism that the £25 fee and short deadline would price out potential Corbyn voters, but it appears to have had the exact opposite effect and has more then likely increased in support in the party even more.
In total over half a million people will be able to cast a vote in the contest. During the last leadership race, which Corbyn won by a huge margin. Over one hundred thousand people paid three pounds so they could register their vote. It is thought around eighty per cent of these new members voted for Corbyn to become leader.
Mr Corbyn is now about to launch his re-election campaign and he will be confident of victory. Owen smith has a mountain to climb to secure victory and odds on him winning the contest are widening.
Mr Smith, the former shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, and only challenger to Corbyn is very concerned about the future of the party which is “teetering on the brink of extinction” and could even disappear form the political landscape if it splits after the leadership contest.
Mr Smith said: “It’s excellent news for our party that over 183,000 people have joined. In the last 48 hours, more people have registered as Labour supporters than the entire membership of the Tory Party. I know they will have got involved for the same reasons I did, because they want to tackle inequality and be part of building a fairer Britain and world.
“Over the coming weeks, I look forward to listening and speaking to as many members and supporters as possible, to set out my radical vision for Labour’s future.”
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