While Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters are celebrating his reelection as Labour leader, it appears at least some members of the party are taking a very different course of action.
According to Google Trends, the most popular search question around the vote was: “How to leave the Labour Party.”
On social media, some people expressed their disappointment with the result in no uncertain terms.
Corbyn secured 61.8% of the vote (313,209) and his challenger Owen Smith won 38.2% (193,229).
The Labour leader thanked voters for their “trust and support” and told Smith they were “part of the same Labour family”.
“In our party we have much more in common than that which divides us,” he said. “Elections are passionate and often partisan affairs and sometimes there are said in the heat of the debate which we sometimes later come to regret.”
Smith has congratulated Corbyn on “being elected decisively as our leader”, adding: “Now is time for all of us to work to take Labour back to power.”
The Labour leadership contest, which was triggered earlier this summer after Corbyn’s shadow cabinet resigned en masse, was often a bitter battle.
Smith’s supporters were visibly disappointed after the result was announced with some refusing to give interviews with the BBC’s Norman Smith.
Conversely, many of those celebrating were Tory and Ukip supporters.
If you do want to leave the Labour party, there are two, possibly three steps involved.
- Cancel your direct debit or standing order.
- Notify the secretary of your constituency Labour party in writing that you have resigned, either by post or email.
- Ignore the above and fulfil one of the sometimes ludicrous criteria deemed worthy of expulsion.