Labour leadership results: Jeremy Corbyn set for huge win but issues arises

10:03am 

Liverpool fans to unfurl Jeremy Corbyn banner at Anfield today 

Following the Labour leadership announcement this morning, Liverpool football fans sitting in the Kop will unfurl a banner supporting Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell just before kick off in their match against Hull City today.

The banner reads "what unites us is greater than what divides us" which is seen as a message of unity for Labour MPs. Roy Bentham, co-secretary of the Blacklist Support Group, who are behind the banner, said: "The banner is really about recognition for Jeremy and John's tireless efforts in campaigning for social justice wherever that may be. 

"We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with them as they have with us on our long paths to justice. 

"We will be displaying the banner at Anfield for Liverpool's game against Hull on the eve of the Labour Party Conference here on the banks of the Mersey as we celebrate a new kind of politics. 

"Never has that quote on the flag been more apt than today. What unites us is greater than what divides us."

9:33am

How the Labour leadership contest unfolded 

It has been quite a summer. Both Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith have admitted that the contest has not been without pain. Finally, after dozens of rallies, hundreds of phone bank sessions and a series of TV debates we are now ready for a result. In this video we look back at what's happened so far.

9:25am

A united front

Jeremy Corbyn will call for unity today, when he is almost certain to win. He will be hoping that some of those MPs who quit his shadow cabinet earlier in the summer will come back into the fold. It may also be an opportunity to pull in some new faces from the so-called "moderates", but can they make it work?

8:39am

On the train

A bunch of journalists including myself are currently on the 8.07am train from London to Liverpool to head to today's Labour leadership announcement. We are expecting the result at 11.45am before the winner will give a speech. 

The train is packed by the way. Maybe Jeremy Corbyn had a point when he created the storm now known as "traingate" by sitting on the flooor of a Virgin Train not too dissimilar to this one. Or perhaps they are usually empty but are instead being filled with the hmany of the new Labour members (and journalists).

8:30am

Corbyn set for landslide victory but faces 'warfare' from moderate MPs

Jeremy Corbyn has been warned that he is facing “warfare” from moderate MPs in his own party in the wake of his expected landslide victory in the Labour leadership election today.

Caroline Flint, a former shadow cabinet member, warned Mr Corbyn to halt talk of deselecting disloyal MPs.

There were reports in Westminster that moderate Labour MPs were planning to create a “party within a party” in the weeks after Mr Corbyn’s expected victory.

This would see the MPs run their own whipping operation in the House of Commons, deciding each week which Government motions to oppose and which to support independently of the Labour party.

However, in a sign of the possible trouble ahead, some of Mr Corbyn’s aides publicly attacked senior critics in the party on Friday accusing them of being prepared to “destroy the Labour party just to stop Jeremy” calling it a “scorched earth policy”.

Mr Corbyn is expected to appeal for unity after his expected victory in the bitter leadership contest with his rival Owen Smith today CREDIT:  PA

One even suggested that moderate MPs were “gearing up for round three” – another leadership election - in a bid to unseat Mr Corbyn.

Mr Corbyn is expected to appeal for unity after his expected victory in the bitter leadership contest with his rival Owen Smith today, before heading to a crucial meeting of the party’s ruling National Executive Committee where is expected to battle attempts to bring back elections to the shadow Cabinet.

Ms Flint said: “If Jeremy is re-elected, then MPs should actually be constructive and work hard to support the Labour front bench, but Jeremy also has to do some things as well.

“I think he has to make sure that talk about deselecting MPs is stopped because that will only lead to warfare, not unity.”

Mr Corbyn’s allies have repeatedly used the threat of deselection to force moderate MPs to pull their weight behind the leader.

She added: “What's very important is Jeremy can show he can unite the party and I hope he will demonstrate that he is prepared to listen to not only those that supported him, but also those that didn't, because all of us have it in our interest to form an effective opposition to hold the Government to account, and I hope he'll show leadership by reaching out.”  That came as one of his senior aides attacked senior figures such as Lord Kinnock, the former leader, as “relics” who believe they have a “God-given right to control everything”.

Earlier this week Lord Kinnock – who helped rebuild the party's fortunes after the disastrous 1983 general election  – said he could not see Labour winning in his lifetime.

However in an interview with The Guardian, Sam Tarry, Mr Corbyn’s campaign director, said: “I think there has been a concerted effort between Owen Smith, the more hard-Right MPs [and] ... relics like Neil Kinnock to say that the Labour party will never win a general election. It sounds as if they are gearing up for round three.”He argued that MPs need to learn the lesson of their probable failure in attempting to topple Mr Corbyn.

He said: “The timing was wrong. It is the establishment against half a million people. They think they have a God-given right to have control of anything.”

James Mills, Mr Corbyn’s head of communications, said Mr Corbyn’s critics were trying to “destroy the Labour party just to stop Jeremy” in a “scorched earth policy”.

Separately a YouGov poll for The Times found that more than half of the people who backed Labour at the last general election and then voted to leave the European Union at the referendum have now abandoned their support for the party. Last night Mr Corbyn appealed for the party - including "those who have voted. volunteered and campaigned for Owen Smith" - to unite after the campaign so that it can "win the next general election".

He said: "We must now turn our agreement into unity, turn our passion into action, and turn our ideas into reality.

"We must win the next general election so that Labour can rebuild and transform Britain - so that no one and no community is left behind. We can and must do that together. That includes those who have voted, volunteered and campaigned for Owen Smith.

"This summer, we have had a debate about the future of Labour and the future of Britain. It has been robust, and at times difficult, but it has been overwhelmingly respectful in tone."

He added: "Now, let’s turn our agreement into unity. Let’s turn our passion into action. And let’s turn our ideas into reality.

"We must win the next general election so that Labour can rebuild and transform Britain - so that no one and no community is left behind. We can and must do that together."