Labour leadership contender Owen Smith faces attacks over lobbyist past

Owen Smith - credit PA

Labour MP Owen Smith, who has secured the position as the party’s ‘unity’ candidate to challenge leader Jeremy Corbyn, has come under criticism over his former role as a lobbyist for US drugs company Pfizer.

Quotes attributed to Smith in 2005 appeared to support greater involvement of private companies in the NHS.

An ally of Corbyn told The Times it showed the Welsh MP was “a turncoat”, branding him "the Blair-lite candidate”.

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Smith told the BBC this morning the story was “a hatchet job” and he remained committed to “a publicly funded NHS”.

He also claimed he was “just as radical as Jeremy Corbyn” and would unite the party following an acrimonious row between MPs and the leadership.

Angela Eagle withdrew from the contest yesterday to tee up a two-month leadership battle between Corbyn and Smith, with the winner being announced in Liverpool on 24 September.

“We have a Labour party at the moment that is not working. We’ve got a leader that doesn’t have the confidence of his Members of Parliament and isn’t reaching out to the country,” she said.

Eagle and Smith were among dozens of Labour MPs who resigned from the front bench after the UK voted to leave the European Union.

However a YouGov poll yesterday showed Corbyn’s approval rating among Labour members had risen four points, and 54 per cent saying they will back him to remain leader.