Angela Eagle begins formal challenge to Corbyn’s leadership

After weeks of shadow boxing, Britain's Labour Party faces a leadership contest, with former business secretary Angela Eagle launching a formal challenge to Jeremy Corbyn.

The party’s national executive committee (NEC) will meet on Tuesday to set out the terms of the contest, and to rule on whether Mr Corbyn should automatically appear on the ballot.

Ms Eagle said she could provide the leadership that Mr Corbyn, who has lost the confidence of 80 per cent of Labour MPs, was no longer capable of offering.

“It’s about giving hope to people all over the country that Labour can be an alternative government, ready and equipped to serve,” she said. “I will unite, I will not divide. I can bring our party together again.”

Party rules say that a challenger for the leadership needs nominations from 20 per cent of the parliamentary party, equivalent to 50 MPs and MEPs.

Incumbent claim

Mr Corbyn is unlikely to be able to command such support from the parliamentary party, but his allies claim that the requirement does not apply to an incumbent leader.

Mr Corbyn is prepared to launch a legal challenge against an NEC ruling that would prevent him from appearing on the ballot. And excluding the leader who was the decisive choice of party members less than a year ago would be certain to provoke widespread outrage.

Len McCluskey, leader of the Unite union, condemned the challenge against Mr Corbyn as an “attempted political lynching” by cowardly MPs.

“We have seen a cowardly attack launched against the party’s elected leader, which has deprived the country of all parliamentary opposition and let the Conservatives off scot-free in their moment of turmoil,” he said.

“This is the responsibility of people who had never accepted Jeremy Corbyn’s victory last year – they never accepted his overwhelming democratic mandate.”

Ineffective party

Mr Corbyn’s critics in the parliamentary party complain that his incompetence has rendered Labour ineffective at Westminster. Since much of his shadow cabinet resigned en masse over the past fortnight, the leader has been unable to assemble a full front- bench team.

“You have to lead in parliament as well,” Ms Eagle said. “We’ve seen Jeremy not do that job. He’s been hiding behind a door, not talking to his members of parliament. That’s not leadership.”

Ms Eagle offered little in terms of specific policies, presenting herself instead as a strong leader who could unite the party and face the challenges presented by last month’s vote to leave the EU.

“I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think I had something to offer to bring our party and our country back together. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think I would be a good prime minister for Britain,” Ms Eagle said.

“These are dark times for Labour, and they are dangerous times for our country. A referendum to settle an argument in the Conservative Party has resulted in the country being torn apart – our economy damaged, our society hurt.”