Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone Backs Jeremy Corbyn For Labour Leadership

lt;pgt;Former Labour Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has endorsed Jeremy Corbyn, the left-wing candidate for the party leadership, as support for the unlikely candidate continues to swell.lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;Livingstone, who served as Mayor of London for eight years between 2000 and 2008 and the Greater London Council in the 1980s, was dubbed quot;Red Kenquot; by the British media for his socialist leanings. In an interview with the lt;a href=quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33647758quot; rel=quot;nofollowquot;gt;BBClt;/agt;, he said Corbyn had laid out credible economic plans to quot;modernise the economy.quot;lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;The comments come at the end of a week which has seen Labour squabbling over the possibility of Corbyn winning the leadership race.lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;A YouGov poll for thelt;emgt; lt;a href=quot;http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4504838.ecequot; rel=quot;nofollowquot;gt;Timeslt;/agt; lt;/emgt;placed Corbyn at the front of the race with 43 percent of first preference votes, ahead of nearest rival Andy Burnham on 26 percent. The poll also found that Corbyn would come out on top in the final round of voting with 53 percent of the vote to Burnham#039;s 47 percent, once other candidates Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall were eliminated in earlier rounds of voting.lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair launched a scathing attack on Corbyn and his backers on Wednesday, lt;a href=quot;https://www.newsweek.com/blair-warns-uk-labour-party-lurch-left-corbyn-takes-lead-330671quot; rel=quot;nofollowquot;gt;sayinglt;/agt; that electing the leftist politician as leader would be like going quot;back to the old days.quot;lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;Various prominent Labour candidates have also disavowed Corbyn, the 66-year-old MP for Islington North and a long-term campaigner for nuclear disarmament and vociferous critic of the Iraq war. Kendall and Cooper both lt;a href=quot;http://www.lbc.co.uk/lbc-labour-leadership-debate-watch-live-from-7pm-113343quot; rel=quot;nofollowquot;gt;saidlt;/agt; they would not serve in a Corbyn shadow cabinet and shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna lt;a href=quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33561504quot; rel=quot;nofollowquot;gt;saidlt;/agt; that Corbyn#039;s views were not quot;a politics that can win.quot;lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;Livingstone said that such quot;personal abusequot; directed towards Corbyn was distracting from the credible policies he had laid out on quot;funding public spending, building homes, modernising our transport, upgrading our broadband, creating real job opportunities.quot;lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;He added that Corbyn could win back voters who had deserted Labour for the Conservatives and believed that he could win the leadership contest and serve as prime minister.lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;quot;Thirty years ago when it was a choice between Michael Foot and Denis Healey [to become Labour leader], I loved Michael Foot, I agreed with him, but I didn#039;t think he could win and I supported Denis Healey. If I didn#039;t think Jeremy could win, I wouldn#039;t be supporting him,quot; said Livingstone.lt;/pgt; lt;pgt;Corbyn has also received the backing of the U.K.#039;s largest trade union Unite, which is the party#039;s biggest financial backer and traditionally holds a lot of sway in its leadership elections. He was one of 48 Labour MPs to revolt against acting leader Harriet Harman by voting against welfare reforms which amount to 12 billion pounds ($18.6 billion) of austerity.lt;/pgt;