IT’S the leadership contest some say has “electrified” Labour and that will take the party back to its roots.

But others say it could split the party and end with it losing any hope of getting back into power any time soon.

Whatever the result, the leadership race has caused thousands of people to sign up to join Labour and that level of interest was clear at the Hilton Hotel at the Ageas Bowl on Tuesday.

The venue in Hedge End may not seem the likeliest venue to hear a leftwing veteran outline his vision for nationalising railways and transforming the education system, but about 1,000 people tried to sign up to hear frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn speak.

Seven hundred of them who were successful packed into the hall in a scene that has not been a common sight in politics for decades.

The jubilant reception he received from hundreds of supporters seemed a far cry from the gloomy expressions on Labour supporters’ faces after the party’s dismal general election result.

That spelled the end of Ed Miliband’s tenure in charge and within weeks of the defeat six candidates put themselves forward to succeed him.

But while the enduring story of the last leadership contest was Ed Miliband beating brother and frontrunner David, this time it seems the unexpected groundswell of support generated by “Corbynmania” will be the story of the contest.

However, he is far from alone in the race and his rivals Yvette Cooper, who says she will broaden the party’s appeal and provide a “progressive, modern Labour vision” and Andy Burnham will both still harbour hopes of beating him to the top job.

Liz Kendall, who describes herself as the “fresh start” Labour needs, appears the outsider now while Mary Creagh and the hotly-tipped Chuka Umunna both dropped out earlier this summer.

Mr Corbyn beat the deadline to be nominated for the contest by less than two minutes and been seen as the outsider, but the Ageas Bowl was just the latest in a line of 75 packed venues Mr Corbyn has spoken in and up and down the country.

Many of the people who came to see Mr Corbyn talk at the Ageas Bowl had not taken part in Labour activism for years or had left the party following the New Labour years.

Gary Hollands, from Portswood in Southampton, said Mr Corbyn has had an “electrifying effect” on the party, saying: “This is my first rally in more than 20 years.

“I was a Labour party member but drifted out. It was a relief somebody actually stood up and said something different. The last five years' austerity has been the only show in town but a lot of people don’t agree with it.”

Terry Crow, who lives in Hedge End, said Corbyn is “offering an alternative to the Conservatives”. adding: “If were led by someone like him we wouldn’t always be apologising for things - we can go on the attack and put forward an alternative”.

The 61-year-old was accompanied to the meeting by his 22-year-old daughter Bethany Crow. who is not a party member and had not attended political meetings before.

She said: “I think Corbyn has a connection with younger people. People said you needed a younger candidate to connect with younger people but that’s not the case.”

However some in the party have warned that it would be foolish to completely disregard the New Labour approach engineered by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown that won three elections in a row.

Mr Corbyn’s opponents have warned that his financial plan is not credible and that he is the candidate the Tories would most like to face.

He is not the only show in town in Hampshire either. Andy Burnham is a popular candidate in Southampton and tied with Mr Corbyn in the votes in the Southampton Test Parliamentary Labour Party vote.

Test MP Alan Whitehead, now Hampshire’s only Labour MP, is backing Mr Burnham who he says has a “strong track record” and “unifying potential across the whole of the party” as well as offering “broad appeal” to the electorate.

But while the influx of new voters and party members have been welcomed there are also some concerns about the way the campaign has been run.

Mr Whitehead says he is not concerned about the way some candidates have aimed blows at each other on policy, comparing it to the “robust” approach of the primaries used to choose the Democrat and Republican presidential candidates in the USA.

But while saying the “one person, one vote” changes that were designed to encourage more people to sign up were a “good idea to widen the franchise”, he did say it had seemed like a “test” of the system.

He added: “It does appear there is some evidence of people trying to get onto the ballot for nefarious reasons, but the extent of that will only be clear at the end of the process.”

Among those to have their applications to vote rejected by the party were Andrew Pope, a current Southampton councillor who quit after the general election, and former councillors Perry McMillan, who was marshalling the Corbyn event at the Ageas Bowl, and Paramjit Bahia, who have both since stood for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, despite all of them being sent emails by candidates encouraging them to vote for them.

Another concern has been the divisions that have appeared between the supporters of different candidates.

Dan Jeffery, a cabinet member at Southampton City Council who is running Mr Burnham’s campaign in the city, says he has concerns over the language being used by some supporters saying he has been called a “Tory” three times during the contest.

He said: “I think there’s going to be a real challenge for the party having got through this process to be able to heal and unite.I think it hasn’t been the finest hour for some on either extreme of the party.”

He also said he believes the growing use of social media such as Twitter has contributed to the greater interest in the campaign, but had a word of warning for whoever wins the contest, saying: “I do worry sometimes if we are talking to ourselves and we are being a bit insular.

“At the end of this campaign we have got to get out there and canvass residents and talk to people across the country, most of whom didn’t vote for us in the general election.”

Southampton councillor Lee Whitbread is among those supporting Liz Kendall. She said: "She is the candidate who is most able to win in 2020 as she understands the real reason we lost in May was that not enough people trusted us on the economy and people’s taxes”.

Although Mr Corbyn has attracted the biggest support, he says: “It’s really good that we’ve got lots of different people from different backgrounds getting involved in the Labour Party.”