BBC News Channel

Former Labour cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw acknowledges Owen Smith is not "well known" in the country but says people who have come into contact with him are "impressed" by what he has to say.

Mr Smith now needs to "go out and make the case" as to how he can provide the "positive and effective" leadership that, he says, Labour so sorely needs.

He suggests people who voted for Mr Corbyn last year are slowly drifting away from him, having heard the "compelling testimony" of Labour MPs who have tried to make his leadership work but concluded it just isn't possible.

For anyone interested in the full details of who nominated Owen Smith, you can find a list on the Labour Party website, external, along with a potted biography and a mission statement from the former shadow work and pensions secretary.

There are also some personal details about Jeremy Corbyn, external and some brief comments about why he believes he should be re-elected leader. What you won't find is a list of nominations since Labour's ruling NEC recently decided Mr Corbyn was automatically entitled to stand. 

Brian Wheeler

Image source, PA

The man challenging Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership is virtually unknown outside Westminster. So who is Owen Smith? 

We know who he wants to be. The great unifier. A political miracle worker who can unite Labour's warring factions to win a general election many in the party think will happen sooner rather than later, whatever the new prime minister says. 

At the very least, he wants to prevent the party from a catastrophic split. And we know how he would like to be seen - a more voter-friendly version of Jeremy Corbyn, with similar "radical" left-wing values but a fresh, modern face. 

But what about the man himself? His campaign launch - tieless, immaculate white shirt, flanked by his family and a youthful band of supporters - could have come straight from the Cameron/Blair playbook. 

But his big idea - rewriting Clause IV of the Labour constitution to include a specific commitment to fight inequality - is designed to be a break with the Blair era. Read more

Owen Smith calls Angela Eagle a "star" after she leaves the Labour leadership contest.

The Pontypridd MP said he was "significantly" ahead of Ms Eagle in a ballot of MPs and he would now face Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership of the party.

Speaking to BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, he said that it was time "to heal divisions in this party, to unite this party".  

Here's an afternoon round-up of the day's events in Westminster:

• Angela Eagle has pulled out of the Labour leadership race and thrown her support behind Owen Smith in his challenge to Jeremy Corbyn
• Prime Minister Theresa May has chaired the first meeting of her new cabinet, telling ministers they all had a duty to make a success of Brexit
• Boris Johnson said some of his past outspoken comments had been "taken out of context" as he faced hostile questions during a press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry
• Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said her goal is to bring immigration down to "sustainable levels" but would not be drawn on whether the government still aims to reduce it to tens of thousands per year. Number 10 has insisted "sustainable levels" meant "tens of thousands"
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said the UK's decision to leave the European Union has "thrown a spanner in the works" of its global growth forecast
• A legal challenge over the UK leaving the EU will be heard by the High Court in October, two judges have decided

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

Image source, AP

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has refused to re-commit to the government's target to get net migration down to the tens of thousands, because he does not want to "disappoint people".

His comments throw further doubts over whether Theresa May's government is still committed to the pledge.

Earlier Home Secretary Amber Rudd also refused to repeat the tens of thousands pledge, saying the government would seek to bring migration down to "sustainable" levels.

When challenged over the government target, Mr Johnson said it was important to be "careful about committing to numbers because you don't want to get into a position where you disappoint people".

Number Ten insisted "sustainable levels" meants the "tens of thousands".

According to Labour's website, external, Owen Smith has nominations from 88 Labour MPs and two MEPs - giving him 90 in total.

Angela Eagle's nominations are not listed.

BBC News Channel

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg puts to Owen Smith that some of Angela Eagle's supporters think he has been underhand by joining the leadership race after her.

"I came into the race late because my brother was ill," he says.

Mr Smith says he wants Ms Eagle "at my right hand" in the leadership contest "and in the years that follow it".

Has he offered her a job? "That's between me and Angela,"  he says.

He calls her "a star in the Labour firmament" who will be "my right hand woman".

He insists he has the "ideas and the energy to win" the Labour leadership.

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

The Labour leadership contender talks to the BBC's political editor, after Angela Eagle withdraws.

BBC News Channel

Labour leadership contender Owen Smith tells the BBC that he was "a significant amount ahead" among Labour MPs. He says he wants to "heal the divisions in the party" and make it "a truly powerful opposition" to "win back the trust of the British people".

In an appeal to Labour members, he says he is "just as radical as Jeremy Corbyn" and thinks they want "someone who can put those principles into practice by winning power for Labour".

"I can be their champion," he adds.

BBC News Channel

The BBC's Vicki Young says there will sighs of relief among Labour MPs who opposed Jeremy Corbyn that there is one candidate to take him on - even if some of them will be disappointed that it isn't Angela Eagle.

BBC News Channel

Angela Eagle tells the BBC that "Owen Smith has a lead and I think it's in the best interests of the Labour Party" that there should be one candidate to challenge Jeremy Corbyn.

Therefore she is withdrawing and supporting Mr Smith's candidacy. She congratulates him and says "we need to have a strong and united Labour Party so that we can have a good opposition".

She says she will back Owen Smith "with all of my enthusiasm and might" and calls on people to sign up as registered supporters "and join this fight".

Vicki Young
Chief Political Correspondent

BBC News Channel

Owen Smith, former shadow work and pensions secretary, has more nominations than Angela Eagle from Labour MPs to run in the leadership contest, says BBC chief political correspondent Vicki Young.

"The deal they did was that the one who was further ahead" would go on to take on Jeremy Corbyn, she adds.

"That candidate now will be Owen Smith."

Angela Eagle, former shadow business secretary, has withdrawn from the Labour leadership contest.

Vicki Young
Chief Political Correspondent