London - Britain's opposition Labour Party moved a step closer to selecting a leader from its left wing on Saturday, after surprise contender Jeremy Corbyn received the backing of more local party groups than any other candidate.
Reeling from its worst election defeat in decades, the party is seeking a successor to Ed Miliband, who stood down as leader after Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives confounded predictions by winning a outright election victory in May.
The contest so far has been dominated by the unexpected popularity of Corbyn, who has been a member of parliament since 1983 and at 66 is two decades older than his rivals.
A longstanding campaigner on issues such as poverty and nuclear disarmament, he opposed the Iraq war and has called for swathes of the economy to be renationalised and praised Karl Marx, author of 'The Communist Manifesto'.
Corbyn had received endorsements from 152 local Labour Party groups and the backing of Britain's biggest trade unions by a Friday deadline, figures released by the party showed.
That put him well ahead of the next most popular candidate, Andy Burnham, who was endorsed by 111 local parties.
While the endorsements do not count towards the final result, due on Sept. 12, they are an indicator of how grassroots members may be planning to vote.
“They count for something,” said Steven Fielding, Director of the Centre for British Politics at Nottingham University.
“It has created this bandwagon for him which might actually be self-reinforcing because it might encourage people of his persuasion to join the party and to vote for him and think it is worth their while.”
Anyone can pay 3 pounds to become a registered Labour supporter before Aug. 12 and vote for the next leader. The party says so far around 27 000 people have done so, while its membership has increased by more than 60 000 since the election.
Corbyn's surge in popularity, after having initially struggled to even get on the ballot paper, has been seen as a backlash against the era of three-time election winner Tony Blair's centrist “New Labour”.
“We think that it is time for a change for Labour ... There is a virus within the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn is the antidote,” said Communication Workers Union chief Dave Ward, who backed Corbyn for the leadership.
“The centre ground has moved significantly to the right in recent years. We do not see arguing for fairer wealth distribution, decent jobs with good pay, terms and conditions and a substantial increase in affordable housing for the next generation as a left wing agenda.”
Reuters