Uncorking the spirit of British socialism was the masterstroke that handed Jeremy Corbyn the Labour Party's top job, but he now faces a much bigger challenge — convincing voters that an admirer of Karl Marx should be Britain's next prime minister.

Virtually unknown just months ago, the 66-year-old won the crown of Britain's second largest political party with 59.5 percent of an internal party vote.

A vegetarian who initially did not expect to win the contest, Corbyn has struck a chord with many Labour supporters by repudiating the pro-business consensus of former Labour leader Tony Blair, offering instead wealth taxes, nuclear disarmament and ambiguity about EU membership.