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With voting starting in the Labour leadership contest, Jeremy Corbyn seems to have momentum over the other candidates - Professor Wyn Grant

Professor Wyn Grant is Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. Commenting on the latest developments in the labour leadership contest, he said,

"With voting starting in the Labour leadership contest, Jeremy Corbyn seems to have momentum over the other candidates. The intervention by Gordon Brown, which did not mention Jeremy Corbyn by name, may give long-term Labour members some pause for thought, but will have little influence on the young people who have joined up or become affiliates, inspired by the Corbyn crusade. For them, electability is secondary to staying true to what they see as authentic core Labour values.

Something has been made of Jeremy Corbyn's age as he would be 70 by the time he became prime minister. We have become used to prime ministers in their forties or early fifties, but Gladstone began his last term as prime minister at the age of 82 and Churchill at the age of 76. Older people are also generally healthy today.

The real question about Jeremy Corbyn is his electability. He clearly appeals to those looking for an outright challenge to austerity who want to see Labour reconstructed as a social movement of protest. However, voters will need to be convinced that he has a credible economic policy.

The most likely scenario is that Corbyn will be elected as Labour leader, but will not lead the party into the next election. He will not be deposed right away, nor will there a break away from the party. However, party discipline may break down and the party appear disunited which does not go down well with voters. His first test would be the Scottish elections in 2016."

Alex Buxton

Communications Manager, University of Warwick

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