Jeremy Corbyn has been comfortably re-elected as UK Labour leader, seeing off challenger Owen Smith.
The bitterly divided party’s conference kicked off with the announcement that the north London MP had won nearly 62% of members’ votes in the contest.
Addressing supporters, Mr Corbyn said he and his opponents were part of the “same Labour family” and everyone needed to focus their energy “on exposing and defeating the Tories”.
“Let us wipe that slate clean from today and get on with the work that we have to do as a party,” he said.
Mr Corbyn added: “We are proud as a party that we’re not afraid to discuss openly, to debate and disagree. That is essential for a party that wants to change people’s lives for the better.”
This is the moment @jeremycorbyn
won the Labour leadership contest#Lab16 pic.twitter.com/BM07cHRkHQ— Press Association (@PA) September 24, 2016
As she congratulated him on his victory, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale told Mr Corbyn he must truly seek to unite the party as she called making Labour an effective opposition at Westminster “difficult”.
She said: “Jeremy can unite the Labour Party, but he needs to want to unite it. That means he needs to work with both the party across the country and MPs to provide an effective opposition to the Tories in Westminster.
“It will be a difficult task for Jeremy, but not an impossible one. Likewise, the Parliamentary Labour Party must recognise that a divided Labour Party serves no one. We can’t fight the Tories when we are fighting each other.”
The SNP pointed to comments made by Ms Dugdale, who came out in support of Mr Smith, in 2015 when she warned that a victory for Mr Corbyn would leave Labour “carping on the sidelines” for years.
Nationalist business convener Derek Mackay said: “If Jeremy Corbyn can’t even convince his own leader in Scotland that he can become Prime Minister, how can anybody else take Labour seriously?
“This is a party that is completely and irreparably divided from top to bottom – and this division is the greatest gift the Tories could ever ask for.”
But an exit poll for the Huffington Post website reported that Mr Smith was actually backed by the majority of Scottish members, as he was by 18-24-year-olds and those who joined Labour before 2015.
Neil Findlay, the Lothians MSP who was also chair of the Scottish Labour for Jeremy campaign, said: “This is a fantastic result – delivered by a fantastic team of party members working right across Scotland. They’ve put a huge effort in to turn the support that we knew was there for Jeremy into votes and I’d like to thank every single one of them.
Neil Findlay casts doubt on idea Smith won in Scotland. Says Team Corbyn samples strongly suggest their man won.
— Nick Eardley (@nickeardleybbc) September 24, 2016
Well done Scotland. Members clearly agree with @kezdugdale on labour leadership #Lab16
— leah franchetti (@LeahFranchetti) September 24, 2016
“If there was ever any doubt the question of leadership and the political direction of our growing and invigorated party is now settled. We now need – all of us – to unify and rally behind that and be the radical alternative that is needed in Scotland and across the UK. “
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said Mr Corbyn’s victory meant Labour was now “incapable of providing a strong opposition to anybody apart from itself”.
She added: “This is a result which will be greeted with utter dismay by thousands of moderate voters across Scotland and the rest of the UK.
“It is a sign of Labour’s utter mess that an attempt to get rid of Mr Corbyn has succeeded only in strengthening is grip on the party.
“This result now leaves Scottish Labour hopelessly divided. Kezia Dugdale has repeatedly attacked Mr Corbyn in recent weeks but we know that her own deputy and many members of her team have urged the party to back him and his brand of hard left politics.”
Questions will now dominate the gathering in Liverpool about whether or not factions who have spent months fiercely and personally criticising each other can come together and oppose the Conservatives.
It also remains to be seen how many of the plethora of shadow ministers who quit in protest at Mr Corbyn’s leadership will now decide to take front bench positions.
The Labour Party is the greatest fighting force for progress that our country has ever seen. If you believe in our values, #StayInLabour.
— Martin McCluskey (@martinmccluskey) September 24, 2016
Mr Smith, the former shadow work and pensions secretary, has said he would not serve on his team, preferring to “loyally serve this party — from the back benches”.
Labour has reported a 77.6% turnout of those eligible to vote in the leadership election.
It was 76.3% last year when Mr Corbyn saw off Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall to first claim the top job, gathering almost 60% of those votes in the process.
Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director-General, said: “It’s critical that the country has a strong opposition at a pivotal moment in our nation’s history.”
John Hannett, general secretary of shop workers’ union Usdaw, which backed Mr Smith in the contest, said Mr Corbyn must reach out to more people if Labour is to have any chance of winning an election.
He said: “Therein lies the ultimate challenge for Jeremy. To win the trust and confidence of the voters, he needs to make the Labour Party look and sound like a government in waiting so that we can win the next election. Our policies, principles and opposition to the Tories mean nothing if we cannot win power.”
