MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Jeremy Corbyn, the current leader of the UK Labour party, has secured support in 285 constituency Labour parties (CLPs), or 84 percent, while his contender Owen Smith secured only 53 nominations, the press office of the former said on Monday.
According to the press release published on Corbyn's Facebook account, support extended to him is more than twice as high as in 2015, with just 39 percent of CLPs backing the party leader then.
"We're really grateful to have received so much support from constituency Labour parties across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland," a spokesperson for Corbyn's campaign was cited in the press release as saying.
Nomination of candidates for the party leader's post by the CLPs does not have direct implication on the voting and is a mere sign of support.
Criticism of the embattled Labour leader has been mounting in the wake of the June 23 vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. Days later, Corbyn lost a no-confidence vote by a wide margin but refused to resign and said he would take part in the party leadership election, due to end on September 21.