Bookmakers slash odds on Jeremy Corbyn winning Labour leadership

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Jeremy Corbyn

UK political betting markets have slashed the odds of far-left candidate Jeremy Corbyn becoming the next Labour Party leader. This week political magazine the New Statesman noted that polling by two independent agencies placed the party veteran at the head of the leadership race.

Corbyn MP for Islington North has emerged as a surprise candidate for UK bookmakers, when the market was announced in May, Corbyn failed to register in most bookmakers top ten Labour leadership contenders. This week the majority of UK bookmakers have placed Corbyn at 7/2 or 10/3 to take the leadership.

However, the announcement made by the New Statesman has not altered the market leaders, as Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham remains favourite at 10/11 followed by Yvette Cooper (Shadow Home Secretary) at 11/4.

The presence of Corbyn as a strong candidate has divided Labour Party stakeholders. Senior strategists are believed to want an appealing centrist candidate, following a disastrous General Election under union backed Ed Miliband, which saw the party post a 9% decline in constituency seats to 232 (2010 Election: 256).

Corbyn’s leadership campaign has been backed by five trade unions, including Britain’s biggest, Unite (1.4 million members). Furthermore the New Statesman has suggested that Corbyn has won support amongst younger Labour Party members.

Whilst Labour has been yet again been divided in a leadership race, Conservative MPs appear delighted. Conservative commentators have labelled Corbyn as potentially the worst Labour leader since Michael Foot headed the party in the early 1980s.

Conservative leaning newspaper The Daily Telegraph courted controversy by publishing an article urging readers to pay £3 to join the Labour party just so they could vote for the “voter-repellent” Corbyn and help “destroy Labour”.

Labour Leadership Odds

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