Angela
Eagle, the first female MP to come out as gay, could become Labour's
first woman leader as she is poised to go head to head with Tom Watson
to head the party after Jeremy Corbyn lost a no confidence vote.
Earlier
this evening Mr Corbyn refused to quit as Labour leader despite losing
an no confidence vote overwhelmingly by 172-40, saying he would not
'betray' Labour members who elected him last year.
There were 13 MPs who did
not take part in today's vote - reportedly including Rachael Maskell, a
member of the shadow cabinet as of yesterday morning who has declined
to express confidence in the leader
Jeremy Corbyn has faced a near universal revolt among MPs determined to
dislodge him and more than 50 MPs quit front bench roles over the past
three days. The no confidence vote triggered another wave of
resignations.
But
despite the massive vote against him by Labour MPs tonight, Mr Corbyn
is to try and fight on - insisting his mandate from party members' is
more important than MPs' support.
Angela Eagle was poised to issue a leadership challenge to Mr Corbyn after talks with Deputy Leader Tom Watson.
But in a statement issued within minutes of the result, Mr Corbyn rejected the result out of hand.
He
said: 'I was democratically elected leader of our party for a new kind
of politics by 60% of Labour members and supporters, and I will not
betray them by resigning. Today’s vote by MPs has no constitutional
legitimacy.
'We
are a democratic party, with a clear constitution. Our people need
Labour party members, trade unionists and MPs to unite behind my
leadership at a critical time for our country.'
Angela Eagle, left, and Tom Watson, centre are said to be discussing the
next steps in the attempt to dislodge Mr Corbyn after he refused to
resign over the no confidence vote tonight Tuesday June 28,2016
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