Who is Jeremy Corbyn, how has Labour fared under his leadership and what is in the party’s manifesto?
JEREMY Corbyn has faced a turbulent time since becoming Labour Party leader, but insists he is ready to win the General Election.
Here, we look at his background, and how the party has fared in the last 20 months under his leadership.
Who is Jeremy Corbyn? How did he get into politics?
Born in Chippenham, Wilts, in 1949, Corbyn is the youngest of three sons.
After grammar school, he worked briefly at a local newspaper before, at the age of 19, he went to Jamaica for two years to volunteer.
Corbyn was first elected in 1983 as the Labour MP for Islington North, the seat he has held for 34 years.
According to his website, Corbyn says: "I remain every bit as determined to fight for a better society today, as I was then.
"Prioritising the needs of the poor and protecting human rights is what I do best, be it at home or abroad, and I’ve been honoured to represent the people of Islington North and take their concerns and needs to Parliament."
After decades as a backbench MP and following Labour's defeat in the General Election in May 2015, Corbyn announced he was standing for the Labour party leadership.
He was considered a token candidate of the hard left - but shocked the political establishment when he won the contest in September 2015 and became the Leader of the Official Opposition.
How has Labour fared under his leadership?
Corbyn faced criticism following the EU Referendum in June 2016 and a motion of no confidence was lodged against him by his own party in the same month, as 60 frontbench MPs called for him to resign.
Despite competition from fellow Labour MP, Owen Smith, it was announced in September 2016 that Corbyn had been re-elected the leader of the Labour party with 61 per cent of the vote.
The Tories had a 17 per cent lead over Labour less than a month before the election on June 8 according to polling on May 10.
Panelbase said support for the Conservatives stood at 48 per cent compared to 31 per cent for Labour.
But this had shrunk to around nine points by May 22, with a Survation poll for Good Morning Britain putting the Tories on 43 per cent and Labour on 34 per cent.
Mr Corbyn regular points to the huge increase in Labour membership under his leadership - more than 500,000 in March compared to around 200,000 two years ago.
One Labour MP quit in the wake of Theresa May's shock decision to call for an election.
Tom Blenkinsop announced his resignation just minutes after Mrs May's statement.
What happened to Corbyn’s Labour in the local elections?
The Conservatives crushed Labour in the biggest local election rout on record.
The Tories picked up a whopping 563 council seats across the UK.
Labour lost 382 seats including symbolic defeats in Glasgow and South Wales.
Jeremy Corbyn was left to claim Labour had “closed the gap” because a poll suggested his party would have been only 11 points adrift in a national vote.
Former Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham won the race to be Greater Manchester Mayor and Steve Rotheram was elected Mayor in Liverpool.
But the party lost control of seven councils, including Glasgow, as well as Bridgend and Blaenau Gwent. It also lost the metro mayor contests in the West Midlands and Tees Valley, a traditional Labour heartland, to the Conservatives.
Corbyn said: "Of course I'm disappointed, we have to get our supporters out to vote in June, we have to get our message across and I'm utterly determined to do that."
What does the Labour Manifesto say?
A leaked draft of Jeremy Corbyn's manifesto revealed he plans to re-nationalise a raft of major industries in the most left-wing election pledge for decades.
He promised to hike public spending by ten per cent, funded by new taxes on businesses and the rich.
It is claimed his policy chief Andrew Fisher, who played a key role in shaping document, left a copy of the manifesto on his desk.
Many of the policies were confirmed when the official manifesto was unveiled.
Key points in the controversial 43-page document - dubbed "the new longest suicide note in history" - include:
- Bring railways back into public ownership and freeze fares
- Energy market partially re-nationalised and average household bills capped at £1,000 a year
- University tuition fees abolished and maintenance grants reintroduced
- On Brexit they reject the option of leaving without a deal thus weakening the UK’s negotiating hand
- No commitment to cutting immigration levels
- Zero hours contracts outlawed and unpaid internships banned
- A 20:1 limit on gap between the lowest and highest paid workers in companies given Government contracts
- A pledge to build a million new homes, including 100,000 council and housing association homes
- Borrowing £250bn to invest over a decade on energy, transport and digital infrastructure
- Lower the voting age to 16
- Support the renewal of Trident but a commitment to a “nuclear free world”
Economists rubbished the plans claiming Labour faces a £30billion budget black hole if elected.
