Corbyn At War With Labour Party Establishment

Jeremy Corbyn is at war with the Labour Party establishment and its grass roots on two fronts: the selection of a by-election candidate and the suspension of a close aide.

After party members in Oldham overwhelmingly rejected his preferred left-wing candidate for the Oldham by-election, one of his senior advisers was suspended for attacks on senior party figures.

Andrew Fisher - who welcomed Ed Balls' election defeat, claimed Yvette Cooper followed BNP policies, said Jack Straw was "vile" and backed a Class War opponent of Tony Benn's grand-daughter - is now facing disciplinary action.

But a defiant Mr Corbyn hit back, declaring: "I have full confidence in Andrew Fisher and his work."

Earlier, the Labour leader travelled to Oldham West to support the party's candidate in the Oldham West and Royton seat, Jim McMahon, 35, leader of the local council and seen as a rising star on the moderate wing of the party.

Mr McMahon won 232 votes in the selection for the by-election caused by the death of veteran left-winger Michael Meacher, crushing the bid of left-winger Chris Williamson, former MP for Derby North, who was backed by Mr Corbyn.

The selection was warmly welcomed by moderate Labour MPs.

"This makes it much easier for Labour to do well in the by-election," Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk told Sky News.

"It shows grass roots members are rejecting far-left candidates and it makes it much more difficult for UKIP."

But within hours of Mr Corbyn's Oldham rebuff came the announcement from Labour HQ that Mr Fisher, a former head of policy for PCS, the left-wing civil service union, had been suspended following complaints about his conduct.

One of those complaints came from Emily Benn, Labour's candidate in Croydon South in the general election and a member of the Benn political dynasty that includes Tony and his son Hilary - now Shadow Foreign Secretary.

Mr Fisher last year urged voters to support the Class War candidate Jon Bigger, tweeting: "FFS if you live in Croydon South, vote with dignity, vote @campaignbeard". Campaignbeard was the Twitter account for the Class War candidate.

Announcing Mr Fisher's suspension, a party spokesman said Labour's ruling national executive will now be asked to authorise a full report to be drawn up "with recommendations for disciplinary action if appropriate".

But in his statement backing Mr Fisher, Mr Corbyn said: "I respect the integrity of the General Secretary's office and trust that this matter will be settled as quickly as possible."

The suspension of Mr Fisher came following protests about his attacks on senior Labour politicians by Blairite MPs Caroline Flint and Siobhain McDonagh at a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party last month.