nominations, he made it on to the ballot paper just before the deadline thanks to a number of MPs who did not want him to be leader "lending" him their nominations "to broaden the debate".

Mr Corbyn, who is promising to protect public services and increase taxes on the wealthy, was seen as a rank outsider, but support for his candidacy has risen significantly - with one poll putting him in the lead.

His campaign has received trade union backing, with Unite and Unison - Britain's two biggest unions - among those endorsing his candidacy.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Jeremy Corbyn criticises MPs' 'faux drama' in Parliament

A vice-chair of CND and a columnist for the Morning Star, Mr Corbyn has frequently been at odds with hisparty over the past 20 years, opposing the Iraq war and other foreign interventions and backing public ownership of the banks. He also wants to scrap Britain's nuclear weapons programme, and tuition fees in England.

Mr Corbyn has been married three times and has three children with his second wife. He used to be a trade union organiser and a Haringey councillor, in London.

Profile of Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn's vision for government

Liz Kendall

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Shadow health minister Liz Kendall was the first Labour MP to say they wanted a crack at the party's top job, saying a "fundamentally new approach" was needed.

First elected to Parliament in 2010 as MP for Leicester West and appointed to the shadow front bench the same year, Ms Kendall is seen as a Blairite