Jeremy Corbyn wins Labour leadership election: Landslide victory over Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall

The left-wing MP defied his critics and is now leading the party

Jeremy Corbyn has been elected as the new leader of the Labour party after a dramatic and gruelling three-month leadership contest.

Mr Corbyn, the left-wing MP for Islington, won a landslide victory with over 50 per cent of the vote in the first round of voting, knocking out all the other candidates.

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His victory was greeted by rapturous applause and cheering from supporters at the Queen Elizabeth conference centre in Westminster, where the result was announced.

The long-time backbencher beat former health secretary Andy Burnham into second place and former home secretary Yvette Cooper into third place. Blairite candidate Liz Kendall came last.

Mr Corbyn gained 59.5 per cent of first preference votes, compared to 19 per cent for Mr Burnham, 17 per cent for Ms Cooper and 4.5 per cent for Ms Kendall.

Despite only gaining the bare minimum of nominations from MPs to get on the ballot paper, the new leader of the opposition proved very popular with members, registered supporters, and affiliated trade unionists.

He now faces the daunting task of leading a party whose establishment was dead-set against his victory and who warned that he could destroy the party.

Corbyn secured almost 60% of the vote (PA)

During his tour of the UK Mr Corbyn drew huge crowds to diverse venues across Britain, with polls conducted before the start of voting suggesting that he would win by a large margin.

Yesterday at a concession rally the new leader’s former adversary Ms Kendall paid tribute to the way his campaign had “mobilised and enthused vast numbers of people in a way we haven’t seen for decades”.

His leadership bid has been dogged by criticisms of his foreign policy and allegations about people he has supposedly associated with or appeared alongside.

But the criticisms do not seem to have dulled enthusiasm for Mr Corbyn, despite Blairite grandees warning that the party must have a “death wish” for electing him.

The result came minutes after Tom Watson was announced as the party's deputy leader.

On Friday Sadiq Khan was announced as the party's candidate for Mayor of London in next year's regional election.