Stephen Hawking backs Labour because Tories would be '˜disaster'

Stephen Hawking is backing Labour. Picture: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize Foundation

Professor Stephen Hawking has said he is backing Labour in the General Election - despite having said he regards Jeremy Corbyn as a 'disaster'.

Following a meeting with the party’s candidate for Cambridge, Daniel Zeichner, Prof Hawking said he was supporting Labour because of concerns over public services, the Cambridge News reported.

“I’m voting Labour because another five years of Conservative government would be a disaster for the NHS, the police and other public services,” he said.

Prof Hawking, a lifelong Labour supporter, had previously said he believed Mr Corbyn had been a “disaster” for the party.

“His heart is in the right place and many of his policies are sound, but he has allowed himself to be portrayed as a left-wing extremist,” he said.