Corbyn to face Eagle, Smith in Labour leadership fight

The UK Labour Party has ruled that leader Jeremy Corbyn will be able to stand in a leadership contest against former shadow Cabinet members Angela Eagle and Owen Smith without having to secure any nominations.

Smith said he would run in the contest, saying Labour needed both a "radical and credible" leader.

The Pontypridd MP, who quit as shadow work and pensions secretary last month, said he could "heal" the party and "turn the page" on its internal strife.

Labour's ruling National Executive Committee met on Tuesday to resolve a dispute about whether Corbyn (pictured) could still appear on any ballot as the incumbent or have to meet the minimum support threshold of 20% of the party's MPs and MEPs.

In a stark contrast with the Conservative Party, which has seen Theresa May anointed as the new prime minister within three weeks of David Cameron's decision to stand down after the Brexit vote, Labour has veered from one crisis to the next as the party's parliamentary wing wrestles with the grassroots membership over its future direction.

Eagle has 51 backers. Corbyn had nowhere near that figure after 172 MPs recently a motion of no confidence in his leadership and only 40 supported him. However, Corbyn was elected in a landslide last year largely due to the support of the non-parliamentary membership.

Eagle is challenging as she feels Corbyn would not be an effective challenger to the Conservative Party in a General Election. MPs are also unhappy at the way he failed to show proper support for the Remain campaign in the referendum on Britain's European Union membership (EU).

The mood within the party has become toxic. A brick was thrown through a window in Eagle's constituency office overnight, while Corbyn also claimed he had received threats.

Corbyn supporters, notably Unite union leader Len McCluskey, said it would be "alien to the concept of natural justice" if he was unable to stand.

In a growing sign of discontent over Corbyn's performance at a time when the government was in disarray over the UK's decision to leave the EU, fewer than a third of Labour-affiliated union members think he should lead the party into the next general election, 58% want him to quit before the next election, while 45% want him out now, according to a YouGov poll.