Angela Eagle says bid for Labour leadership is to 'save' party

Former shadow Labour Business Secretary Angela Eagle on Monday launched her campaign to topple Jeremy Corbyn as party leader.

Eagle said she was "a practical socialist driven by a strong set of values who wants to get things done", adding that she did not believe Corbyn was fit to lead the party to victory at the next General Election and had failed to hold the government to account.

"These are dark times for Labour. And they are dangerous times for our country," she said at her campaign launch.

She told the Mirror newspaper that the party needed “to be saved”.

“I’m stepping up to the plate to say it’s about time we did this so we can make the Labour Party relevant again and so we can contend for government,” Eagle.

“We've all stood on the shoulders of what Labour governments in the past have done –if we're not in government we can't spread those chances around our society more widely."

Eagle announced her intention to run against Corbyn on Saturday after union-backed peace talks between the leadership and disaffected Labour MPs collapsed. Deputy leader Tom Watson said there was “no realistic prospect of a compromise”.

As a sign of the strife that is threatening to split the party, it emerged on Monday that Eagle faced the prospect of a no confidence vote from her own constituency of Wallasey, according to her local party’s vice chair.

Asked whether such a motion existed, Paul Davies said: “Well, there is a motion to that effect and I am sure that will be a debate at our next meeting on the 22nd… I can’t possibly say what all 1,200 people think – but it’s going to be a very lively debate.”

“Up until the 24th June Angela Eagle was supporting Jeremy Corbyn but the party was united in Wallasey… I want to see a fair election now with both members on the ballot papers,” Davies told the BBC.

Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee also has to to decide this week whether the party leader must be re-nominated by MPs in order to run in the event of a challenge to his leadership. The Labour party constitution says that where there is no vacancy for leader, “nominations may be sought by potential challengers”. They require 20% of the party’s MPs to be valid.

Corbyn is adamant that the leader should automatically be on the ballot. Any ruling otherwise would effectively end his tenure after MPs passed a motion of no confidence in June by 172 votes to 40.