Diane Abbott insists Jeremy Corbyn will lead the party until the next election – EVEN if Labour loses its two by-elections later this week
DIANE Abbott has insisted that Jeremy Corbyn will continue to lead the party until 2020 - even if the Labour Party loses two by-elections this week.
The Shadow Home Secretary said she was confident Mr Corbyn would carry on in his position, no matter what the outcome this week.
Speaking on Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme today, she said the party would "go forward" regardless.
The party faces two tough contests this week when voters go to the polls in Copeland and Stoke on Trent - to replace two MPs who quit.
Voters in Brexit-backing Stoke are ready to give Mr Corbyn a bloody nose and elect Ukip's leader Paul Nuttall on Thursday, new polling shows.
Even a marginal Labour victory would signal humiliation for Corbyn. This is a seat where 20 years ago Labour boasted a 20,000 majority.
On Thursday they will defend a flimsy 5,000 advantage, with many voters torn between them and Ukip.
But today Ms Abbott insisted the Labour leader wasn't going anywhere.
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She said: "These are difficult by-elections, they are going to be quite tight.
"We are hopeful of winning both of them, but it’s really important that every Labour supporter comes out to vote" on Thursday.
The Shadow Home Secretary added: "And if we lost one or we lose both, the party will go forward – it has to go forward."
Labour are currently trailing around 16 points behind the Tories in some polls, and Mr Corbyn continues to receive bad individual polling.
When she was asked whether he would see another leadership challenge in the event of losing the two seats, she said: "No, no."
"For people who’ve been opposed to Jeremy from the very beginning – I’m not one of them – I think we have to move forward."
"I’m confident Jeremy will lead us into 2020. The point about the polls is you’ve had nearly a year of a sustained campaign against Jeremy and the Labour party, both in the media and sadly a few of our MPs.
"I’m confident the polls will improve," she added.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan insisted today that Mr Corbyn's leadership was "settled" after he secured a comfortable re-election as leader last year.
He told ITV's Peston on Sunday: "If you're a Labour supporter, if you're a member of our party and our movement, my view is you're not part of a process party, you're not a commentator commentating on the current leader.
"Your job is to make sure when there are elections happening, whether council election, by-election or a general election, that Labour candidates win... That's one of the things I'm seeking to do in London, showing the difference a Labour administration can make."
