Jeremy Corbyn re-elected Labour leader in U.K.

LONDON — Britain's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was challenged over his handling of the Brexit campaign to leave the European Union, handily won re-election Saturday as head of the divided opposition party.

The 67-year-old far-left renegade, who was elected leader in September 2015, beat back a challenge from the little-known Owen Smith, winning almost 62% of more than 500,000 votes cast by Labour members and supporters.

Accepting victory to a standing ovation from delegates at the party's conference in Liverpool, Corbyn said he would work to unite the party.

“We have much more in common than that which divides us,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned let’s wipe that slate clean from today and get on with the work we’ve got to do as a party.”

The leadership election had been sparked by party members unhappy with Corbyn’s leadership and his handling of the campaign this past spring to remain in the EU.

Although Corbyn has had strong grassroots support, many Labour MPs believe his left-wing views were out of step with public opinion.

Corbyn’s margin of victory is larger than a year ago, but he heads a troubled party that’s a long way from defeating the ruling Conservatives in a general election in four years, and split over whether it values political principles over gaining power.

Corbyn “has almost no chance whatsoever” of triumphing in 2020, said Matthew Goodwin, professor of politics and international relations at the University of Kent. “He is the most unpopular opposition leader in postwar history and is lagging well behind Prime Minister Theresa May in public ratings of their leadership qualities and economic competence.”

A poll by market research form Ipsos MORI last month said 58% of respondents were dissatisfied with Corbyn as Labour leader.

Adrian Pabst, another Kent academic, predicted that one of the first moves of a re-elected Corbyn would be to try and put together a shadow cabinet — an alternative to that of the Conservatives — but most Labour members of Parliament won't serve under him.

Pabst predicted that Corbyn will try to amend the party’s leadership election rules so that a far-left candidate will always be on the ballot, and “will try to recruit even more militants to entrench his position.”

“What all this signifies is that Corbyn will stick to his politics of protest," Pabst said. "Far from reaching out to the whole country and positioning himself as a credible alternative PM to Theresa May, he will further alienate the electorate.”

Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair called Corbyn "the guy with the placard" after he opposed U.K. airstrikes in Syria and attended nuclear disarmament rallies after becoming party leader.

A lackluster performer in Parliament, Corbyn gave muted support to the EU during this year’s referendum Brexit campaign, prompting many opponents to argue that he contributed to the “leave” victory.

More than 170 of Labour’s 230 MPs declared no-confidence in Corbyn after the referendum, but he refused to resign, sparking Smith's leadership bid.

The internal party battle quickly turned nasty, with online name-calling and allegations that the leadership by Corbyn, who is strongly pro-Palestinian, has fostered anti-Semitic abuse in the party.

Corbyn called Saturday for an end to “intimidation and abuse.”

“It’s not my way, and it’s not the Labour way,” he said.