2020 Labour Party leadership election (UK)

The 2020 Labour Party leadership election was held between (21 February – 4 April 2020) to elect a leader to replace Jeremy Corbyn. On 13 December 2019, Corbyn announced that he would not lead the Labour Party into the next general election, following the party's poor performance in the December 2019 election.[2]

2020 Labour Party leadership election
← 2016 24 February – 4 April 2020 (2020-02-24 – 2020-04-04) Next →
Turnout490,731 (62.58%)[1]
  File:Official portrait of Keir Starmer crop 2.jpg File:Official portrait of Rebecca Long Bailey crop 2.jpg File:Official portrait of Lisa Nandy crop 2.jpg
Candidate Keir Starmer Rebecca Long-Bailey Lisa Nandy
Popular vote 275,780 135,218 79,597
Percentage 56.2% 27.6% 16.2%

Leader before election

Jeremy Corbyn

Elected Leader

Keir Starmer

It was won by Keir Starmer who received 56.2 per cent of the vote on the first round. It was held alongside the 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election.

Background

Jeremy Corbyn was elected Labour Party leader in a 2015 leadership election and re-elected leader in 2016 after a challenge from Owen Smith. While Labour gained seats in the 2017 general election, the party lost 60 seats in the 2019 election, its worst result since the 1935 general election. Corbyn announced that he would resign after a "process of reflection".[3]

Timetable

The timetable for the election was set by the party's National Executive Committee on 6 January 2020.[4]

  • 7 January: Nominations from the PLP and EPLP open
  • 13 January: Nominations from the PLP and EPLP close
  • 14 January (17:00): Registered supporter applications open
  • 15 January: Nominations from CLPs and affiliates open
  • 16 January (17:00): Registered supporter applications close
  • 20 January (17:00): Party members and affiliate members must join by this date to be eligible to vote
  • 14 February: Nominations from CLPs and affiliates close
  • 21 February: Voting starts
  • 2 April (12:00): Voting closes
  • 4 April: Result announced

Candidates

Declared

The following individuals have been nominated as official candidates by the party:

Candidate Born Political office Announced Nominated Campaign Ref.
100px
Long-Bailey, RebeccaRebecca Long-Bailey
22 September 1979
(age 46)
Stretford, Greater Manchester, England
Shadow business secretary (2017–present)
MP for Salford and Eccles (2015–present)
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury (2016–17)
Shadow treasury minister (2015–16)
6 January 2020[5] 29 January 2020 Campaign Archived 2020-03-13 at the Wayback Machine [6]
100px
Nandy, LisaLisa Nandy
9 August 1979
(age 46)
Manchester, England
MP for Wigan (since 2010)
Shadow energy secretary (2015–2016)
4 January 2020[7] 22 January 2020 Campaign Archived 2020-03-06 at the Wayback Machine [8]
100px
Starmer, KeirKeir Starmer
2 September 1962
(age 63)
Southwark, London, England
Shadow Brexit secretary (since 2017)
MP for Holborn and St Pancras (since 2015)
Shadow immigration minister (2015-16)
4 January 2020[9] 20 January 2020 Campaign [10]

Eliminated

Candidate Born Political office Announced Eliminated Endorsed Campaign
100px
Thornberry, EmilyEmily Thornberry
27 July 1960
(age 65)
Guildford, Surrey
Shadow First Secretary of State (2017–present)
Shadow foreign secretary (2016–present)
MP for Islington South and Finsbury (2005–present)
Shadow Brexit secretary (2016)
Shadow defence secretary (2016)
Shadow employment minister (2015–16)
Shadow Attorney General (2011–2014)
18 December 2019[11] 14 February 2020 Campaign[dead link]

Withdrawn

Candidate Born Political office Announced Withdrew Endorsed Campaign
100px
Lewis, CliveClive Lewis
11 September 1971
(age 54)
London, England
Shadow treasury minister (2018–present)
MP for Norwich South (2015–present)
Shadow business secretary (2016–17)
Shadow defence secretary (2016)
19 December 2019[12] 13 January 2020[13] Campaign Archived 2020-02-27 at the Wayback Machine
100px
Phillips, JessJess Phillips
9 October 1981
(age 44)
Birmingham, England
MP for Birmingham Yardley (since 2015) 3 January 2020[14] 21 January 2020[15] Lisa Nandy[16] Campaign

Declined

The following individuals were discussed in the media as potential leadership candidates, but chose not to stand:

PLP and EPLP Nominations

Candidates first need to be nominated by at least 10% (twenty-two) of current Labour MPs and MEPs, who make up the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) and the European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP).

The candidates who have passed this threshold need nominations from at least 5% (thirty-three) CLPs, or at least three affiliates including at least two trades unions that together represent at least 5% of affiliated members.

The table below shows the current number of nominations achieved by each candidate.

Candidate First stage
Labour MPs and MEPs
Second stage
Constituency Labour Parties Affiliates
Nominations[30] % Nominations[31][32] % Nominations[31][32]
Keir Starmer
88 / 212
[a]
41.5% Green tickY
369 / 647
57% Green tickY
12 / 32
Green tickY
Rebecca Long-Bailey
34 / 212
16% Green tickY
159 / 647
24.6% Green tickY
7 / 32
Green tickY
Lisa Nandy
31 / 212
14.6% Green tickY
71 / 647
11% Green tickY
3 / 32
Green tickY
Emily Thornberry
23 / 212
10.8% Green tickY
30 / 647
4.6% 13px
0 / 32
13px
Jess Phillips (withdrawn)
23 / 212
10.8% Green tickY
0 / 647
0% 13px
0 / 32
13px
Clive Lewis (withdrawn)
5 / 212
2.4%
Total nominations
198 / 212
[b]
93.4%
630 / 647
97.4%
22 / 32
  1. Starmer did not formally nominate himself, therefore the Labour Party lists him as having received 88 nominations, whereas some reports of the contest list him as having received 89 nominations
  2. Not including Lewis's nominations and not taking Starmer as having nominated himself

List of supporters

2020 Labour Party Leadership Election (UK) Media

References

  1. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  2. "Jeremy Corbyn: 'I will not lead Labour at next election'". BBC News. 13 December 2019. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50766114. 
  3. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  4. Sparrow, Andrew; Carrell, Severin (2020-01-06). "Labour leadership: NEC decides contest to last three months, with result announced Saturday 4 April – live news" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/jan/06/labour-leadership-jess-phillips-clarifies-brexit-stance-saying-she-cant-see-party-backing-remain-at-next-election-live-news. Retrieved 2020-01-06. 
  5. (in en-GB) Long Bailey becomes sixth candidate in Labour race. BBC News. 7 January 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-51012381. Retrieved 7 January 2020. 
  6. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  7. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  8. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  9. (in en-GB) Keir Starmer enters Labour leadership contest. 4 January 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-50995782. Retrieved 4 January 2020. 
  10. (in en-GB) Labour leadership: Sir Keir Starmer enters race. BBC News. 4 January 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-50995782. Retrieved 4 January 2020. 
  11. (in en-GB) Thornberry enters Labour leadership race. 2019-12-18. https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50834286. Retrieved 2019-12-18. 
  12. Rowena Mason (2019-12-19). "Clive Lewis joins race to be Labour leader pledging to 'unleash' party" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/19/clive-lewis-joins-race-to-be-labour-leader-pledging-to-unleash-party. Retrieved 2019-12-27. 
  13. McGuinness, Alec (13 January 2020). "Labour leadership: Clive Lewis pulls out of race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn". Sky News. https://news.sky.com/story/labour-leadership-clive-lewis-pulls-out-of-race-to-succeed-jeremy-corbyn-11907812. Retrieved 13 January 2020. 
  14. "Labour leadership: Jess Phillips joins race to replace Jeremy Corbyn". BBC News. 3 January 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-50981713. Retrieved 3 January 2020. 
  15. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  16. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  17. Mason, Rowena; Pidd, Helen (15 December 2019). "Labour leadership race begins as senior figures back Rebecca Long-Bailey". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/15/labour-leadership-race-begins-as-senior-figures-back-rebecca-long-bailey. Retrieved 16 December 2019. 
  18. Cooper, Yvette (6 January 2020). "Seven things Labour must do to win the next election". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/06/yvette-cooper-seven-things-labour-must-do-party-leader. Retrieved 6 January 2020. 
  19. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  20. Jarvis, Jacob (9 January 2010). "Barry Gardiner rules himself out of Labour leadership bid... because he would not make it past the first round". Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/barry-gardinder-cancels-labour-leadership-bid-a4330911.html. Retrieved 20 January 2020. 
  21. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  22. Labour leadership: Dan Jarvis considers joining race. BBC News. 24 December 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-50906730. Retrieved 24 December 2019. 
  23. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  24. Kentish, Benjamin (4 January 2020). "David Lammy rules himself out of Labour leadership contest". The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-lammy-labour-leadership-jeremy-corbyn-a9269816.html. Retrieved 4 January 2020. 
  25. Labour leadership frontrunner Starmer hires ex-Corbyn aide as key strategic advisor. ITV News. 8 January 2020. https://www.itv.com/news/2020-01-08/labour-leadership-contest-nominations-sir-keir-starmer/. Retrieved 20 January 2020. 
  26. Bloom, Dan (29 December 2019). "Ian Lavery confirms he is 'seriously considering' a bid for Labour leadership". Mirror Online. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/ian-lavery-confirms-seriously-considering-21182414. Retrieved 29 December 2019. 
  27. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  28. Allegretti, Aubrey (13 January 2020). General election: Who will be next Labour leader after Jeremy Corbyn?. Sky News. https://news.sky.com/story/general-election-who-will-be-next-labour-leader-after-jeremy-corbyn-11884758. Retrieved 14 January 2020. 
  29. Buchan, Lizzie (7 January 2020). "Angela Rayner says Labour 'must win or die' as she enters deputy leadership race". The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/angela-rayner-labour-deputy-leader-election-tom-watson-brexit-long-bailey-a9272131.html. Retrieved 8 January 2020. 
  30. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
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