Angela Eagle drops out of Labour leadership race

Angela Eagle has dropped out of the Labour leadership race, throwing her support behind Owen Smith in his challenge to incumbent leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The former shadow business secretary said that she was dropping out “in the interests of the party” and that she would back Smith “with all her might and enthusiasm”.

Her decision came after Smith won the backing of more MPs in a process of selecting a single candidate to challenge Corbyn. The BBC reported that Smith has amassed 90 nominations from Labour MPs so far, with Eagle gaining 25 fewer.

Both Eagle and Smith said that whichever of the two them had the least support would withdraw from the race.

Offering her congratulations to Mr Smith, Ms Eagle said the Labour Party under Mr Corbyn's leadership "was not working" and that he did not have the confidence of his MPs.

Corbyn has said he will win the leadership election, despite losing the support of the majority of his MPs in a confidence vote following the Brexit referendum.

Eagle warned that the Labour Party “was not working” under Corbyn's leadership and that the leader did not have the confidence of his MPs.

She urged Labour party members to register to vote in September's leadership election to ensure the party could be an effective opposition which could "take the fight" to the Conservative government.

Asked whether she had done a deal with Smith, she said that the two two would be "in lockstep" from now on about the need for a "strong and united" opposition and a leader which could "heal" the party.

Both Eagle and Smith had resigned from the shadow cabinet in the wake of the EU referendum result, which triggered a mass revolt by Labour MPs against Corbyn.