Owen Smith still 'receiving death threats' after leadership bid against Jeremy Corbyn

‘I had police at my surgery last Friday because of some of the death threats I’ve had,’ he said

The Pontypridd MP says the Labour leader has improved since his resounding win (EPA)

Owen Smith has revealed he still receives death threats three months on from an unsuccessful attempt to oust Jeremy Corbyn.

The former Labour leadership contender said he had “lots and lots” of threats but does no regret his decision to challenge the Labour leader following the EU referendum.

Mr Smith, the MP for Pontypridd, made clear he would not follow Jamie Reed, a Labour MP and persistent Corbyn critic, who announced this last week he would resign from Parliament to pursue a career outside politics.

Mr Smith, who has refused to return to the shadow Cabinet since quitting ahead of his leadership challenge, told The Guardian that the Labour leader had improved since his resounding win.

“I had police at my surgery last Friday because of some of the death threats I've had,” Mr Smith said. “Some of those are to do with the contest and some of those are to do with other political things I've said.”

He said he was not surprised by the attacks he was subjected to during the leadership contest. “Part of the big difference was definitely social media, and the extent to which Jeremy supporters were very, very active, and very aggressive on social media,” he said. “I think they did very effectively play the man as well as the ball.”

Looking at Mr Corbyn’s performance since the leadership election, Mr Smith said: “I think he’s definitely done better at Prime Minister’s Questions. He’s been much sharper at PMQs, more forensic, and pursued a single theme more effectively, so I think that’s really encouraging.”

But he warned: “Anybody who looks at modern politics across the world and thinks that parties can’t disappear, is looking with their eyes closed. It can absolutely happen.

“As I said over the summer, parties take a long time to rise, but history shows they can disappear overnight.”