Labour leadership: Corbyn has most local nominations in Wales

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Liz Kendall, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Jeremy CorbynImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Liz Kendall, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Jeremy Corbyn hope to succeed Ed Miliband

Left-wing candidate Jeremy Corbyn is the frontrunner among local Labour parties in Wales in the battle for the party leadership.

He is backed by nine of the 40 Welsh constituency parties, with Yvette Cooper a close second on seven.

Andy Burnham is backed by four parties in Wales and Liz Kendall by one, while 18 said they would not nominate anyone ahead of the midnight deadline.

The winner will be decided by a vote of Labour members beginning in mid-August.

Only Montgomeryshire's local members are yet to announce whether they would be supporting a particular candidate.

Whilst the nominations are considered an indicator of the level of support for each candidate, they have no bearing on the leadership election result, due to be announced in September.

Image caption,

More than 600 Labour members packed Cardiff City Hall for a leadership hustings earlier in July

Among Welsh MPs, Mr Burnham has 11 supporters, including Shadow Welsh Secretary Owen Smith, who has said the former health secretary can "revive" Labour.

Ms Cooper is backed by seven Welsh MPs, including Shadow Culture Secretary Chris Bryant and Ann Clwyd.

Ms Kendall has the support of five Welsh MPs, including Paul Flynn.

The only Welsh MP to nominate Mr Corbyn, Huw Irranca-Davies, said he only did so to ensure a "better contest" with a broader choice of candidates.

Alyn and Deeside MP Mark Tami said that due to his role as a Labour party whip he would not be nominating any candidate.

Mr Flynn told BBC Radio Wales on Friday he thought Mr Corbyn would eventually lose the race after a "sobering up process", claiming the "big surge" in his support would "fall away".

However, Blaenau Gwent council leader Hedley McCarthy said only Mr Corbyn was offering "a socialist alternative" to mainstream policies.

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