by Larry Neild
LONDON, Aug 15 (Xinhua) -- A leading expert in politics at Oxford University has put the Labour Party's current civil war under the spotlight and said the two divided sides need each other to save the party.
Dr Matthew Williams from the Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford's Wadham College outlined his analysis of the party's crisis in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
Current leader Jeremy Corbyn, backed by a group of supporters known as Momentum, is facing a challenge for his job from Owen Smith, one of more than 170 MPs serving in the British House of Commons who have passed a vote of no confidence in Labour.
Smith is fighting his campaign on the basis of reuniting the party. Corbyn has massive grassroots support, and is packing rallies with thousands of people backing his new style of politics. The result will be announced next month in Liverpool.
Dr Williams told Xinhua: "I think the Labour Party has a future but they are facing an existential crisis." "In Scotland and northern England there is a strong parochialism in politics that Labour's instinctive internationalism jars with. I can't see a Corbyn-led Labour winning many seats in either of these Labour heart lands."
"All looks bleak at present as Corbyn is likely to win the leadership in September. There will then probably be a British general election connected with article 50 and Brexit (the formal mechanism to triggering Britain's exit from the EU) in 2017/18 which could almost wipe out the party north of Watford," Williams said.
"In 2018 there will be redistricting of parliamentary constituencies to reduce the number of seats in the House of Commons from 650 to 600. This will also affect Labour more than any other party as they benefit from small urban constituencies at present."
"So, where's the hope for Labour? I think they're unlikely to split because it will be a lose: lose strategy. Both Momentum and the establishment will be trashed if they split. They haven't fully realized it yet, but they need each other."
Various political commentators have warned that the civil war could spell the eventual end of the party.
