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With hours to go until Labour announces the result of its leadership contest, here The Independent answers some crucial questions on the contest.
Who are the candidates?
The candidates in the race are Jeremy Corbyn, the current leader, and Owen Smith, the former shadow work and pensions secretary who launched his leadership challenge shortly after Britain voted to leave the European Union.
While Mr Corbyn has been on the backbenches in Wesminster for around 30 years, Mr Smith was relatively unknown before the contest having only started as an MP in 2010 but managed to rapidly climb the party’s ranks.
How long has the contest been going on – and why is it happening?
The turbulent – and at times bitter – summer for the party began with a string of resignations from the shadow Cabinet following the sacking of the former shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn two days after the EU referendum. It was claimed he was encouraging other colleagues to resign in the wake the Brexit vote and Mr Corbyn’s “lacklustre” performance during the campaign.
Over the course of the next few days, a string of shadow Cabinet ministers resigned and a no confidence vote in Mr Corbyn was passed by 172-40. But the Labour leader refused to step down, despite a blow to his authority from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).
In Liverpool on Saturday 24 September – the special conference, a day before the start of the party’s annual conference, will begin around 11.30am. Party sources expect the leadership announcement to be wrapped up by midday. It will be broadcast live on the party’s website.
Who is likely to win?
Most MPs, and commentators, believe Mr Corbyn will again secure the leadership of the party and there is speculation from both camps that he could actually secure a more significant win than he did in the summer of 2015. It appears in the last few days Mr Smith, and his team, have appeared to concede defeat in the contest and said he “won’t be serving in Jeremy’s Cabinet” – without adding that would be the case if it turned out he had lost to Mr Corbyn.
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