Miliband: Of Course Corbyn Is Fit To Be PM

Ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband has backed Jeremy Corbyn insisting that he is fit to be prime minister.

However, Mr Miliband would not be drawn on forecasting whether Mr Corbyn would win in 2020 saying that after his General Election defeat earlier this year "predictions aren't my thing".

The former leader told Radio 4's Today programme that he would not be a "backseat driver" and then gave a grudging "thank you" when the presenter pointed out that he had "crashed the car".

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Mr Miliband said: "Jeremy Corbyn has doubled our membership.

"I have seen that myself in my own constituency. As a constituency MP - and I think this is quite important - I am seeking to work out how do we use these new members so that we can do what we didn't do fully under me, which is become a community organisation that actually is a presence in communities up and down this country."

He added: "He has set out what he believes his mandate is for, which is anti-austerity, a different approach to foreign policy and participatory politics."

And when asked if he thought Mr Corbyn was fit for the office of prime minister he said: "Of course."

It follows reports that Mr Miliband joked with MP Graham Stringer, who had been critical of his leadership: "I bet you didn't think things would actually get worse."

Mr Miliband suffered in the popularity polls during his tenure as Labour leader, however, a YouGov poll last month put Mr Corbyn as the least popular opposition leader in history.