No regrets, says MP who loaned support to Corbyn

No regrets: Huw Irranca-Davies who nominated Jeremy Corbyn but didn't vote for him.

Had it not been for Huw Irranca-Davies, Jeremy Corbyn might have been able to spend this week on his allotment.

The Ogmore MP was one of several to nominate Mr Corbyn to ensure he was able to enter the leadership contest even though he didn't want him to win.

One former aide to Tony Blair described MPs who did this as "morons". Another MP joked privately that Mr Irranca-Davies should be shot - at least I think he was joking.

So any regrets? "No, none at all," he told me. "I think it's been an exhilarating contest. If you look at what's happened with the driving up of membership and registered supporters, it's quite phenomenal. I haven't seen it in all my time as an MP or the 20 or 30 years before when I've been a grass roots activist."

With his local party membership having doubled from 400 to 800, Mr Irranca-Davies hopes the new members and "registered supporters" will now engage in more traditional campaigning - leafleting and canvassing - in the run -up to next May's elections to the National Assembly for Wales.

'Advice'

Delyn MP David Hanson worked as Tony Blair's parliamentary private secretary for four years so has seen an electorally successful Labour leader up close. His advice to Jeremy Corbyn?

"I think the key thing that he has to notice is that Labour only implements left-wing policies when it wins people over who are centre-left and in the centre. I voted for the minimum wage because there were Labour MPs from Suffolk, from Kent, from Hampshire where now we have none.

"So my job is to make sure we win those seats elsewhere and in a Welsh context we've only had Labour MPs doing things in Wales and a Labour assembly because we've held the Gower, because we've held the Vale of Clwyd and Cardiff North now in the assembly.

"We have to hold those areas. That's why his appeal can be to the left, but it also has to be to the centre-left."

'Anthem'

On Monday, Mr Corbyn faced some challenging questions from his own MPs at a meeting of the parliamentary Labour party.

According to the chair of the Welsh group of Labour MPs, Albert Owen, it's something he'll have to get used to:

"It's the first time Jeremy's had to field it and he's going to have to get used to it. Just as we're going to have to get used to Jeremy, he's going to have to get used to that.

"And he's all about that, because we had private meetings with him before hand and we pierced him with some really tough questions. That's what leadership is about and he's going to have to get used to it."

On Wednesday afternoon, the new leader will meet the Welsh group of Labour MPs - and First Minister Carwyn Jones. His non-singing of the UK national anthem will be raised.

"That was a mistake," said Albert Owen. "He should have sung and I'll be taking the matter up with him when I meet him later today".