Corbyn calls for unity after Labour victory

Jeremy Corbyn was re-elected leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party on Saturday and called for unity after ending a “coup” by more centrist lawmakers who say his left-wing agenda can never deliver victory at the polls.

The veteran campaigner’s triumph, by 313,209 to 193,229 votes, over challenger Owen Smith cements his authority over the divided party and will fuel a drive further left — a move many lawmakers say will see them out of power and allow the ruling Conservatives free rein over Britain’s divorce from the EU.
Welcoming the result which handed him a larger share of the vote than his first leadership victory last year, Corbyn called on lawmakers and members at the party’s annual conference in the northwestern city of Liverpool to come together to fight the Conservative Party and bring “real change” to Britain.
“Elections are passionate and often partisan affairs, things are sometimes said in the heat of the debate ... which we sometimes later come to regret. Always remember in our party we have much more in common than that which divides us,” he said to roars from the crowd of largely his supporters.
“Let’s wipe that slate clean and get on with the work we have got to do as a party together,” he said, moving to ease fears that his re-election will widen the divide between the Labour Party’s left and center-left wings and that he may trigger moves to force centrist lawmakers from the party.
His victory marks the next phase in a battle for control of the Labour Party.
In power for 13 years until 2010, Labour was dealt a crushing blow by the Conservatives five years later after they cast doubt on whether the party’s left-wing policies would protect the economy.
The ruling party, under new Prime Minister Theresa May, still leads by seven percentage points in opinion polls and looks set to plot Britain’s exit from the EU largely unopposed.
Corbyn, 67, attracts a devoted following, but his election to leader last year on a wave of enthusiasm for change also unleashed a backlash against centrist lawmakers where personal attacks, allegations of anti-Semitism and abuse left little room for debate over policy.
Several in the party who once supported his candidacy as a chance to harness a growing disaffection for ‘establishment politics’ across Europe now rue the day they backed him.
But Corbyn tried to smooth over these divisions, calling the party “our Labour family.”

Source: Arab News