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Everything you need to know about the Labour leadership contest

PA News

The new leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, won a resounding victory in the leadership contest.

– How much did he win by?

Sir Keir won 275,780 votes out of 490,731 returned votes – equivalent to 56.2%.

Rebecca Long-Bailey won 135,218 votes (27.6%) while Lisa Nandy secured 79,597 (16.2%).

There were 136 spoilt ballot papers.

In 2015, Jeremy Corbyn took 59.5% of the vote – 251,417 of the 422,664 votes cast.

Sir Keir Starmer during the Labour leadership husting at the ACC Liverpool (Danny Lawson/PA)
Sir Keir Starmer during the Labour leadership husting at the ACC Liverpool (Danny Lawson/PA)

– What has he said?

Sir Keir it is “the honour and privilege of my life” to be elected as leader of the Labour Party.

He said his mission is to restore trust in Labour as “a force for good and a force for change”

He also apologised for anti-Semitism in the party which has brought “grief” to Jewish communities.

– Who is Sir Keir Starmer?

The former shadow Brexit secretary and ex-director of public prosecutions is viewed as more of a centrist figure in the Labour Party.

(PA Graphics)
(PA Graphics)

The 57-year-old father-of-two has been the MP for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015 and was instrumental in getting the party to back a second Brexit referendum – although he acknowledged the scale of the election defeat meant the issue was now settled.

However, he has refused to rule out campaigning for Britain to return to the European Union in the long term.

His policy pledges include raising income tax for the top 5% of earners, campaigning for EU freedom of movement to continue and to push for “common ownership” of public services such as mail, rail and energy.

– Who won the deputy leadership race?

Angela Rayner during the Labour deputy leadership hustings at the SEC centre, Glasgow (Jane Barlow/PA)
Angela Rayner during the Labour deputy leadership hustings at the SEC centre, Glasgow (Jane Barlow/PA)

Angela Rayner won in the third round of voting with 228,944 votes – 52.6%.

Rosena Allin-Khan came second with 113,858 (26.1%) while Richard Burgon was third with 92,643 votes (21.3%).

Dawn Butler was eliminated in the first round with 50,255 votes and Ian Murray was eliminated in the second round with 64,560 votes.

– Who is Angela Rayner?

A former care worker and trade union representative, Ms Rayner describes herself as a “socialist, not a Corbynite”.

She left school at 16 years old while pregnant with no qualifications and later studied at college for qualifications in care work and sign language while looking after her young son.

The 40-year-old mother-of-three was elected to Parliament for Ashton-under-Lyne in 2015 and quickly rose from being a junior shadow minister to being appointed shadow education secretary in June 2016.

She has championed the party’s headline policy of free tuition fees and setting up a national education service to provide learning “from the cradle to the grave”.


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