Jeremy Corbyn has said he believes everyone “owes a lot to Marx” and that lawmakers can “learn a great deal” from him.
When asked if he considered himself a Marxist he said it was “an interesting question” and "he was a fascinating figure who observed a great deal and from whom we can learn a great deal.
"Marx analysed what was happening in a quite brilliant way. The philosophy around Marx is absolutely fascinating."
Speaking on BBC One’s Andrew Marr show on Sunday, the Labour leadership contender laid out his vision for the future of the party.
Jeremy Corbyn has become the surprise success of the campaign with 103 local branches of the party giving him their support compared with 100 declared for Burham, 87 for Yvette Cooper and just 14 for Liz Kendall, the New Statesman reports.
A private poll seen by the Times last week suggested Corbyn was fifteen points ahead of his nearest rival and could win the leadership.
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Poll shows Jeremy Corbyn on course to win Labour leadership
But Corbyn puts his success down to an influx of younger voters who are keen to see “a real alternative” to Tory austerity.
He said: “What it is about is converting the Labour party into much more of a social movement and an awful lot of people have joined the party since the election. We now have 200,000 more members and probably 50,000 signed up as supporters.
“They all want to do something, they want to change society.”
Mr Corbyn, who has been MP for Islington North since 1983, said he wants to make Labour move closer to its roots, which were “essentially democratic, essentially socialist and essentially community [based]”.
The Observer has reported that supporters of the hard left MP have been “shocked at the momentum” and the level of support for the campaign but says it has struggled to keep up the number of volunteers.
It comes as senior figures among campaigners of the other candidates have deployed an "Anything But Corbyn" strategy to halt his rise.
Andy Burnham warned in the Sunday Mirror that a Corbyn victory “runs the risk” of splitting Labour and reducing it to “a party of protest riven by factions”.
Andy Burnham has warned that the Labour party faces being a "pointless party of protest" if Jeremy Corbyn wins the leadership
One Labour backbencher has even called on acting leader Harriet Harman to suspend the race entirely as he believes the party is being infiltrated by hard left activists purely to swing the race to Corbyn, according to the Sunday Times.
The Bassetlaw MP, John Mann said the contest was “out of control”.
He said: “It should be halted. It is becoming a farce with longstanding members . . . in danger of getting trumped by people who have opposed the Labour party and want to break it up, expressly want to break it up — some of it is the Militant Tendency types coming back in”, he said.
