The Labour party has ~0.5m members. They need ~13-15m votes to win a majority of seats in a general election. The views of members are likely to be more polarised than the electorate as a whole - although other parties are in a similar position.
The Tories place more reliance on existing MPs rather than party members. This may have the advantage that those who have to work with/for the PM are instrumental in his/her election.
Labour reliance on membership votes means they may elect someone who does not have the confidence of the parliamentary party they need to lead to do the job.
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