Owen Smith says he can win the Labour race because he ‘pulled’ his wife against the odds

Owen Smith believes he has what it takes to beat Jeremy Corbyn because he “pulled” his wife at a school where there were hundreds of teenage boys and just three girls.

The 46-year-old Labour leadership contender grew up in Barry in south Wales, where he met Liz, who is now a primary school teacher, in 1986.

“1,200 boys, three girls and I pulled Liz. So I must have something going on. That must be leadership,” he told the Daily Mirror.

Mr Smith, who has been MP for Pontypridd near his hometown since 2010, told the newspaper he had to win the leadership race as Labour was “on the brink of disappearing as a serious party”.

“If, like me, you come from this part of the world and have friends who rely on public services, you know deep down you have to have a Labour government,” he said.

“And we are never going to have one with the current leadership.”

Mr Smith has been accused of sexism during his leadership campaign after he tweeted a picture of a gobstopper with a caption suggesting it would be the “perfect present” for SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon.

But the politician said he did not regret sending the contentious tweet as it was meant as a joke and was “a bit of political banter during an election contest”.

In July, he was also forced to defend his use of imagery after saying he wanted to “smash” Theresa May on her “back heels” as rhetoric.

He said: “It pained me that we didn’t have the strength and the power and the vitality to smash her back on her heels and argue that these our values, these are our people, this is our language that they are seeking to steal.”

Mr Smith stood by his remarks after being challenged by Sky reporter Sophy Ridge, but added: “I don’t literally want to smash Theresa May back, just to be clear. I’m not advocating violence in any way, shape or form.”

Voting opened to Labour members in late August and closes on 24 September when the new party leader will be announced at a special conference.

Support for Mr Smith is currently lagging behind Mr Corbyn’s popularity, partly fuelled by a surge in new party members.

According to YouGov, 35 per cent of Labour members say they intend vote for Mr Smith as opposed to 57 per cent who say they will vote for the current Labour leader.

However, if a general election were to be called tomorrow, polls suggest Ms May’s Conservatives would remain in power, with 40 per cent of people saying they would vote for the Tories and 29 per cent for Labour.

“At the moment we are fighting each other like ferrets in a sack so the biggest priority has to be uniting the party,” Mr Smith told the Mirror in an interview that focussed on his home life and family history.

“Then, second, we have to be absolutely clear on where we are going to attack the Tories. Right now they are destroying the NHS in England before our eyes.”