With nominations for the Labour leadership contest set to open this evening, the three hopefuls made their case to the Parliamentary Labour Party today at a lunchtime hustings. Despite Jeremy Corbyn being automatically on the ballot, he did grace the room with his presence — though as one MP remarked: ‘he couldn’t really not turn up. It would have been a gross sign of disrespect if he hadn’t’.
Corbyn’s performance was — predictably — met with little enthusiasm from MPs. His talk of the need for the party to work together was seen to be a hollow remark given the divided state the party is in. However, the hustings were never really about him, but instead to establish whether Eagle or Smith is best-placed to beat the Labour leader at the polls.
Eagle impressed with her words, winning some of the biggest rounds of applause. She launched a thinly-veiled attack on Corbyn over the NHS, stating that ‘rallying, seminars and protests’ were not enough when it came to protecting it.
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