JEREMY CORBYN insisted it’s Labour, not Ukip, that is the party for “ordinary people” yesterday as he launched the party’s campaign in Oldham West & Royton.

Mr Corbyn visited the constituency to launch the by-election campaign alongside candidate Jim McMahon, the 35-year-old Oldham council leader.

Mr McMahon is defending a 14,000 majority but faces a divisive campaign against Ukip, which came second in May.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage has declared his intention to make immigration the number-one issue in a cynical bid to grab a second seat for his party.

Mr Farage attempted to boost his everyman image yesterday by inviting photographers to snap him on a visit to a Subway fast-food outlet in the town.

But Mr Corbyn pointed out that only Labour was defending the living standards of working people by opposing cuts to tax credits, which would rob families of £1,300 a year.

“It’s Labour who are standing up for people’s right and ability to work,” he said.

“It’s Labour who are standing up for our future and for our children. That, quite simply, is what the choice is.

“We are going to get Jim McMahon elected for this constituency to show the people of Oldham want a decent, better Britain that cares for all, not the few.”

Mr McMahon was selected as Labour’s candidate at a meeting on Wednesday evening, winning 232 votes compared with 141 for left rival Mohammed Azam.

Former Derby North MP Chris Williamson was disappointed after picking up just 17 votes.

The result was branded a victory for supposed “Labour moderates” over the left by much of the media.

Mr Farage seized on the theme yesterday, claiming Mr McMahon is “very much at odds” with the party leader.

But this was branded a “divisive misrepresentation” by shadow Treasury minister Richard Burgon.

“All Labour MPs are moderates, elected as democratic socialists,” he wrote on social media.

“Nothing extreme in that, whatever elements of the media who want Labour to lose might say.”

The by-election, called after the death of veteran MP Michael Meacher, will be held on December 3.

Labour are odds-on with the bookies to win at 1/16, with Ukip at 8/1.