An earthy left-wing leader who splits UK’s Labour

Opposed by most of his MPs and lionised by grass roots activists, socialist Jeremy Corbyn was re-elected yesterday as leader of Britain’s opposition Labour, but takes his party into an increasingly uncertain future.

The 67-year-old, first elected as leader last year, increased his support, roundly defeating opponent Owen Smith thanks to support from party members and supporters, even though most lawmakers want him gone.

His anti-establishment, left-wing credentials have endeared him to voters disillusioned with mainstream politics, as has his image as a man of principle standing up for ordinary people.

But centrist MPs argue that his policies — which include scrapping nuclear weapons and opposing austerity measures — will never draw enough support from voters to win a general election.

Corbyn spent decades on the backbenches of parliament, where his left-wing views have long been out of fashion, before his surprise election as Labour leader last September.

Rumbling criticism of his leadership style turned into open rebellion after June’s referendum vote to leave the European Union, which critics say Corbyn did not do enough to prevent, but he refused to stand aside.

While he has promised to “wipe the slate clean” and move on following the fight, some commentators believe that his opponents could still split off and form a rival party.

Born into a political family — his parents met as activists in Britain during the Spanish Civil War — Corbyn worked for trade unions before being elected to the House of Commons in 1983. Prior to becoming leader, he had never held major office and was a serial backbench rebel, voting against his party’s line repeatedly and championing human rights and policies to help the poor.

So committed is he to socialism that his second marriage reportedly broke up over his opposition to sending his son to an academically selective school, rather than one open to all. He is currently married to Laura Alvarez, who runs a company importing coffee from her native Mexico.

Corbyn does not have a car, instead rides a bicycle around his north London constituency in Islington, where some of the poorest and richest people in Britain live side by side.

“People see in Corbyn a new form of politics, where people care for the poor and downtrodden,” said Philip John Rosser, a 61-year-old party member. Veteran centrist Labour lawmaker Alan Johnson described Corbyn in a recent interview as “totally incompetent” and “self-righteous”.