Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 2015 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Labour Party (UK) leadership election

← 2010 14 August 2015 – 12 September 2015 (2015-09-12)
Turnout	422,871 (76.3%)
Candidate Jeremy Corbyn Andy Burnham Popular vote 251,417 80,462 First preferences 59.5% 19.0%   Candidate Yvette Cooper Liz Kendall Popular vote 71,928 18,857 First preferences 17.0% 4.5%
Leader before election Harriet Harman (acting); previously Ed Miliband Elected Leader Jeremy Corbyn

The 2015 Labour Party leadership election was an important vote to choose the new leader of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom. This election happened because the previous leader, Ed Miliband, stepped down on 8 May 2015. He resigned after the Labour Party lost the general election that year.

After Ed Miliband resigned, Harriet Harman, who was the Deputy Leader, became the acting leader. She announced that she would also step down after the new leader was chosen. The election was won by Jeremy Corbyn.

Who Ran for Leader?

Four people were officially chosen to run in the election. These candidates were Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Jeremy Corbyn, and Liz Kendall.

The voting for the new leader started on Friday, 14 August 2015. It ended on Thursday, 10 September 2015. The results were announced just two days later, on Saturday, 12 September 2015.

How People Voted

People who could vote in this election included members of the Labour Party and other registered supporters. They used a special voting method called the alternative vote system. In this system, voters rank the candidates in order of their preference (first choice, second choice, and so on).

Election Results

When Jeremy Corbyn first joined the election, many people thought he had little chance of winning. However, support for him grew very quickly. Surveys that asked people who they would vote for, called opinion polls, showed that he was becoming very popular.

This rise in support led to some well-known politicians, like Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, sharing their concerns. They worried that if Corbyn became leader, the Labour Party might find it hard to win future elections. Despite these concerns, Jeremy Corbyn won the election in the very first round of voting. He received 59.5% of all the votes.