TWO top allies of Jeremy Corbyn have urged Brexit-backing working class northerners to join the party so they can vote for the new leader.
Party chairman Ian Lavery and Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jon Trickett made the demand after claiming the party had been taken over by remain-supporting metropolitan elite members.
The call is a clear move against the current leadership favourite Sir Keir Starmer, who backed a second referendum and lives in London.
In an attempt to stop the millionaire lawyer in his tracks, they have now issued a call to arms.
Writing in the Mirror, they said: When Labour wins, it is because a coalition of working and middle class people believe in our party to make Britain a better place.
However our membership is now disproportionately one that voted to Remain in the referendum and drawn from the South, mainly from metropolitan areas and from the middle classes.
To win again the coalition of working and middle class people within our own party must be rebalanced.
That is why we are calling for Labour supporters from working class backgrounds and from the North to join the party by January 20 and have their say in the upcoming leadership election.
Mr Lavery has already voiced his support for far-left contender Rebecca Long-Bailey, while Mr Trickett is also believed to support her.
Emily Thornberry, Lisa Nandy and Jess Phillips are also vying for the top job.
Yesterday Ms Nandy turned on the current Labour leader, accusing him of failing on Russia over the Salisbury terror attack.
She said: “We stood with the Russian government, and not with the people it oppresses, who suffer poverty and discrimination. We failed the test of solidarity.”
