Rolling coverage of the announcement of the result of the Labour leadership election
8.14am BST
At 11.45am the Labour party will announce the result of its leadership contest at its conference in Liverpool. Jeremy Corbyn is widely expected to win and, as we report in our overnight lead, insiders are predicting that he will get 65%. That would be an even bigger win than he achieved last year when Corbyn got 59.5% of first preference votes. A result like this would be a big disappointment for Owen Smith, the former shadow work and pensions secretary who is challenging Corbyn and who, at the very least, hoped to make a dent in Corbyn’s lead.
Last night Corbyn issued a statement appealing for unity.
We must win the next General Election so that Labour can rebuild and transform Britain – so that no one and no community is left behind. We can and must do that together.
That includes those who have voted, volunteered and campaigned for Owen Smith.
This summer, we have had a debate about the future of Labour and the future of Britain. It has been robust, and at times difficult, but it has been overwhelmingly respectful in tone.
Politics blog | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2dcN6i7
Sig Nordal 