Shift left not apparent in Labour’s other leadership election
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Corbyn-mania continues to grip the Labour party, with the 66-year-old left-winger now odds on with Ladbrokes to become the next leader of the opposition, having usurped Andy Burnham at the head of the market last week.
Despite this marked shift in the betting (Jeremy Corbyn was 100/1 to be next red head prior to entering the race at the start of June), it seems the 66-year-old’s brand of pure socialism isn’t chiming with all parts of the country.
In London, for example, Corbyn’s running mate (of sorts) for Mayor isn’t given much hope of replacing Boris Johnson in City Hall.
Diane Abbott co-hosted an event in Shaftsbury Avenue with her fellow backbencher last week, and was on BBC Newsnight fighting off Tony Blair’s former speechwriter Philip Collins a few days ago, but the Hackney MP has failed to gain any traction in the race.
Abbott is 20/1 with Ladbrokes merely to land Labour’s nomination, and 33/1 to win the Mayoralty itself, with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith currently 7/4 favourite.
In an intriguing reverse from the Blair/Ken Livingstone days of the early-to-mid noughties, a candidate perceived to be on the right of the party, former Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell, is the 11/10 jolly to be Labour’s top dog, closely followed by former Ed Miliband campaign manager Sadiq Khan.
Whoever wins the red side’s nomination is expected to claim outright favouritism from Goldsmith, with Labour 8/15 to field the winning candidate, the Tories 13/8, the unlikely event of any other bar the Liberal Democrats 12/1, and the impossibility of a Lib Dem Mayor of London priced up at 50/1.
Unless another wave of left-wing support comes for the long-time BBC This Week analyst, Abbott won’t be around to compliment her would-be leader in the capital, should Corbyn land 10/11 odds and take the Labour crown.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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