2016 has, so far, been a year of political turbulence. David Cameron has quit as Prime Minister following a disastrous result for him in the EU Referendum, Nigel Farage has (once again) quit as UKIP Leader, this time for good, and the USA has to elect one of two rather unpopular people as President. But right now, dominating the headlines in the UK, is the Labour Leadership race.
For the second year running, the party have to elect a new leader. Last time out, Jeremy Corbyn ran away with the victory, winning 59.5% of the votes in the first round against Liz Kendall, Yvette Cooper and of course Andy Burnham, Labour candidate for Greater Manchester Mayor and the only one of that trio who hasn't voted against Jeremy.
This year however, we have only one candidate standing against Jeremy. He is Welsh MP Owen Smith.
The past year has seen an abundance of insults being thrown at Jeremy Corbyn, with 'Unelectable' being the main choice. But I ask you, what makes Owen Smith more electable than Jeremy Corbyn?
Owen Smith has already gained fame for how eerily similar his policies are to Jeremy's, a fact he has even admitted. Of course Jeremy has become a rather Cult hero and has a wide and diverse fan base. So of course Smith would copy Corbyn's popular policies in order to appeal to his voters. This is a plan that hasn't really worked out for Owen, with many of Mr Corbyn's supporters continuing to back him.
Now I am a 16 year old who has just finished my GCSE's and started Sixth Form. I am a loyal member of the Party since May 2015, which of course meant I was there during the end of the tenure of Ed Miliband. Now personally, I believe he was more unelectable than Jeremy. I liked him, yes, but he couldn't appeal to the working class. Jeremy on the other hand, is a well known 'Man of the people', and despite the recent 'Traingate', where Jeremy allegedly lied about a lack of seats on a train to further his political agenda to Privatise the railways, he is very obviously a man who cares about the people.
Not only that, but I have every intention of becoming a politician myself in the future, and this is down to the inspiration that I have been given by Jeremy Corbyn.
Now, when people say that he has alienated different groups of people such as different Ethnic Minorities or different Religions, I disagree. Jeremy has a wide array of ethnicities and religions in his vast fan base. Yes, his handling of the Anti-Semitism crisis could have been better, but many Jewish people still support him.
He is a Left Wing Socialist who in my opinion, represents everything that Labour stands for. He is not incompetent, nor is he unelectable. I believe that with the right team around him, and the support of the entire membership, Jeremy would be able to appeal to everyone, and win the 2020 General Election.
So that brings me back to my main point. Why is Owen Smith allegedly more electable than Jeremy? Why is he less incompetent? Because if we are talking about incompetence, then what about the photograph that has been doing the rounds on Facebook of Owen Smith in a room with a whiteboard featuring all the details for his campaigns private server in full view. Surely that is an error that shouldn't have happened? If Jeremy had made that mistake it would be plastered across every single newspaper in the country.
This is because of a very clear and very obvious press agenda against Jeremy Corbyn.
During his tenure, the Tories have attacked Jeremy Corbyn continuously, and even themselves said he is unelectable. Surely if they wanted him to be elected they would urge Labour members to elect him, not the other way round. Only in recent months have they changed their tactics. In my opinion this shows fear from the Conservatives, as they know he could take them on.
Owen Smith is, in my opinion, unlikeable and untrustworthy. I do not believe he could help the party win an election. Imagine if next year, following a win for Owen in the Leadership race, we are calling for him to be sacked.
I'm a huge Jeremy Corbyn supporter, and I believe that to be quite honest, Owen Smith just doesn't click for me. I mean no offense to him and of course this is all just my opinion which many people will disagree with. But before ballots close, I urge you to vote for Jeremy Corbyn for an honest, genuine man of the people in charge of our party, who will not only bring the country back from the brink that David Cameron and Theresa May have put us on.