MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier on Monday, ballots in the Labour leadership contest started being posted out to those with a right to vote as the UK main opposition party seeks to bridge divisions ahead of the 2020 general election. The choice is between Corbyn and his challenger Owen Smith, who quit his post as the shadow work and pensions secretary amid an attempted party "coup" in June.
"Owen Smith gets my vote. I believe he can unite our party and move us on from the divisions that exist under the current leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. Owen understands that to have a chance of implementing Labour values, we need to win over some of those who didn’t vote for us at the last election… I don’t think Jeremy can unite our party and lead us into government. He cannot appeal to a broad enough section of voters to win an election. I believe Owen can," Dugdale wrote in an opinion piece for the Daily Record.
On June 28, Corbyn lost a no confidence vote after a large majority of party parliamentary members voted against him. Dugdale said, following the vote, that Corbyn should consider stepping down, however, the UK Labour leader has refused to resign.
The deadline for the ballot papers to be returned is September 21. The result of the voting is expected within three days of that date, to be announced at a Leadership Conference in Liverpool on September 24.
