The Labour leadership candidate Owen Smith says his chances of beating Jeremy Corbyn are “10” out of 10, despite the latest polls suggesting the incumbent will win by a landslide.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Mr Smith said the fact Labour has grown to become the largest political party in Europe under Corbyn’s leadership did not mean he has “mass appeal”.
“He’s got mass appeal to a small section of the electorate,” said Mr Smith, the challenger with the backing of a large majority of Labour’s MPs.
“The reality is that 12 million people are what we need in the Labour movement, voting Labour in Tory seats and Labour seats. Jeremy I don’t think can bring that along.”
Asked how likely he was to win the contest, on a scale of one to 10, Mr Smith said: “Oh 10, absolutely. Never answer 7 and a half, Andy. Always say 10.”
YouGov polling conducted last week suggested only 21 per cent of the public thinks Mr Corbyn is doing a good job as Labour leader, compared to 61 per cent who think he is doing badly.
Yet despite that lack of confidence in his performance among the general public, 62 per cent of those with a vote in the contest said they were going to back Mr Corbyn anyway, compared to 38 per cent for Mr Smith.
The challenger was not deterred by the big gap, however - indeed, he cited the polls in an attempt to explain why he should win.
“If you look at the polls, and how I appeal to a much broader cross-section of society, because of the extra credibility that I think I can bring to this and because of the clarity of what I’ve suggested, I suggest I’m in a better position to win those votes back than he is,” he said.
