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JeremyY Corbyn’s former policy chief, who now works for his leadership rival Owen Smith, has told Labour members in the north of the borough to vote for his new boss.

An unprecedented 370 members in Islington North voted at a meeting on Wednesday, with 266 backing Mr Corbyn for the leadership and 100 for Mr Smith. Dozens of members were forced to vote outside the meeting at St Mellitus Church, in Tollington Park.

The fact that 100 members voted for Mr Smith is seen by critics of Mr Corbyn as proof that unhappiness about his leadership goes far beyond Westminster.

But Wednesday’s result was welcomed by Mr Corbyn’s supporters, who said a fresh leadership election should never have been on the cards as he was chosen just a year ago with a massive mandate.

Neale Coleman, Mr Corbyn’s former head of policy who resigned after a series of backroom disputes, and former Labour mayoral hopeful Christian Wolmar urged members to vote for Mr Smith.

Mr Coleman warned that if Mr Corbyn leads Labour into the next election, the party would be defeated “to the same level as in 1931”. That year Labour won just 52 seats.

He said he had been “delighted” to vote for Mr Corbyn last summer and to be given the policy job, but his experience in the leader’s office had led him to conclude that Mr Corbyn was not suited to lead.

Mr Wolmar, who also voted for his MP last year, said after the meeting: “I have had many conversations with people who worked with him and in everything you can see that he’s just not a sort of person who leads.

“He [Mr Corbyn] seems to think that decisions are made by osmosis and that he can sit their like a bystander, not realising that he’s the leader and has to be effective.”

He added: “It’s not an issue of politics. It’s good that he pulled the party to the left and I hoped he could get the right people around him to pull the party together. [But] he’s made no overtures to people beyond his clique. I don’t think he has any strategy to win an election.”

A member of the Islington North Stronger In campaign told the meeting it had been impossible to get Mr Corbyn to work with her during the EU referendum campaign. She said he had only joined her team once, in the evening on the night of the vote.

George Durack, a long-standing ally of Mr Corbyn, said the attempt by MPs to force their leader to resign was “absolutely disgraceful”.

“First and foremost he was voted leader by the largest majority that anybody has ever had and I don’t believe there should have been a re-election,” he said. “But I’m delighted that Jeremy got through clearly.”

Hillrise ward councillor Michelline Ngongo added: “Jeremy is a man of principle who is about including everyone in his political approach. I believe in him as a leader, and he will carry on with the mandate from the people that elected him democratically.”

The Islington North Labour party is the second largest in the country with 4,625 members. Since January, 1,600 people have joined. There were four abstentions in Wednesday’s ballot.

In the ballot in Islington South last week, 121 members backed Mr Corbyn against 54 who supported Mr Smith. A new poll among Labour members and supporters will be held in September.