What are Owen Smith’s politics? All you need to know about how Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour leadership rival has voted on key issues

OWEN Smith is now Jeremy Corbyn’s official challenger in the Labour leadership contest and to beat him will have to demolish the current leader’s mountain of personal support.

We take a look at the hopeful’s voting record to see whether Corbynistas would agree with his views on the big issues.

Owen Smith has pledged to hold a second referendum on the EU and has proposed a £200bn British New Deal investment programme

On Monday night he voted with the Government to renew the Trident nuclear deterrent system.

In May this year he voted against repealing the Human Rights Act 1998.

He voted to allow a terminally ill person the right to end their life, if the High Court gives consent.

He has consistently voted for equal gay rights – including allowing same sex couples to marry.

On deploying the British military overseas he has a mixed voting record.

In 2011 he voted in support of setting up a no-fly zone in Libya and in 2014 he voted for air strikes in Iraq to support Iraqi forces efforts against ISIL.

But in December last year he voted against British military action in Syria and against British airstrikes against ISIL in Syria.

Last month he voted to allow the Investigatory Powers Bill, which gives the Government more surveillance powers on people’s internet usage.

In January last year he voted that companies needed an environmental permit for fracking activities.

But last December he voted against greater restrictions on fracking to extract shale gas in national parks, the Broads, areas of outstanding natural beauty and so on.

In 2011 he voted against having an EU referendum but changed his mind by last year and voted in favour of having one. A week before the EU referendum he voted to say the UK needs to stay in the EU.

He voted against the so-called bedroom tax and against capping benefits.

To try and reduce unemployment he has voted to spend public money to create guaranteed jobs for young people who have been unemployed for a long time.

He has also voted to increase the amount of time people can claim the employment and support allowance.

Since becoming the MP for Pontypridd in 2010 he has almost always voted against raising the threshold at which people start to pay income tax and against increasing the rate of VAT.

He has voted for a banker’s bonus tax and for an annual tax on the value of expensive homes – the so-called mansion tax.

In the realm of health he has voted against NHS reforms including giving more power to GPs to commission services.

And he has also voted to reduce the amount of money an NHS foundation trust is allowed to make from private patients.

When MPs were voting on smoking bans he was absent on three occasions – but in February 2014 he was in the Chamber to vote in favour of a law banning smoking in private vehicles when someone under 18 is in the vehicle.

He voted against greater autonomy for schools, against academy schools and against raising England’s undergraduate tuition fee cap to £9,000 a year.

Mr Smith has also voted for an elected House of Lords, against having fewer MPS in the House of Commons and for more powers for local councils.