Jeremy Corbyn has a clear mandate to lead the Labour Party into the next general election.

All the different factions must now respect his mandate and, above all, unite. The Tories are the real opposition to progress in our country, not long-serving members that once supported Tony Blair.

The wider public, at the ballot box, will decide the true test of Labour’s shift to the radical left. If we start to pick up seats and go ahead in the polls then internal party critics will be silenced.

Moderates on the centre-left social democratic tradition of the party, like me, are going nowhere. In many ways, Corbyn’s 30 years on the back-benches should serve as an inspiration. He voted against the party’s position in Parliament more than 500 times. It shows that the party has no problem with principled dissent, so long as people are broadly signed up to Labour values.

The redistribution of power, wealth and opportunity is what gives Labour a reason to exist. They are values that the majority of British people agree with. Across Europe, parties of the left are struggling to come up with credible policy alternatives that tackle the nationalism and right-wing populism of our age.

So Corbyn must now lead the party out of the wilderness. We must all unite to oppose grammar schools; secure a massive house-building programme; re-nationalise our NHS and bring an end to crony capitalism. This is a strong vision of a fairer Britain, freed from the shackles of the EU. Potentially vote-winning policies that we can all agree on.

  • Tom Bewick is a Labour councillor for Westbourne, Hove