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2020 Labour Party leadership election
← 2016 24 February – 4 April 2020 (2020-02-24 – 2020-04-04) Next →
Turnout 490,731 (62.58%)
  Official portrait of Keir Starmer crop 2.jpg Official portrait of Rebecca Long Bailey crop 2.jpg 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

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.

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".

Timetable

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

  • 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.
Official portrait of Rebecca Long Bailey crop 2.jpg
Long-Bailey, RebeccaRebecca Long-Bailey
22 September 1979
(age 45)
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 29 January 2020 Campaign
Official portrait of Lisa Nandy MP crop 2.jpg
Nandy, LisaLisa Nandy
9 August 1979
(age 45)
Manchester, England
MP for Wigan (since 2010)
Shadow energy secretary (2015–2016)
4 January 2020 22 January 2020 Campaign
Official portrait of Keir Starmer crop 2.jpg
Starmer, KeirKeir Starmer
2 September 1962
(age 62)
Southwark, London, England
Shadow Brexit secretary (since 2017)
MP for Holborn and St Pancras (since 2015)
Shadow immigration minister (2015-16)
4 January 2020 20 January 2020

Eliminated

Candidate Born Political office Announced Eliminated Endorsed Campaign
Official portrait of Rt Hon Emily Thornberry MP crop 2.jpg
Thornberry, EmilyEmily Thornberry
27 July 1960
(age 64)
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 14 February 2020 Campaign

Withdrawn

Candidate Born Political office Announced Withdrew Endorsed Campaign
Official portrait of Clive Lewis crop 2.jpg
Lewis, CliveClive Lewis
11 September 1971
(age 53)
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 13 January 2020 Campaign
Official portrait of Jess Phillips MP crop 2.jpg
Phillips, JessJess Phillips
9 October 1981
(age 43)
Birmingham, England
MP for Birmingham Yardley (since 2015) 3 January 2020 21 January 2020 Lisa Nandy

Declined

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

  • Diane Abbott, Shadow Home Secretary (endorsed Long-Bailey)
  • Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee since 2016 (endorsed Starmer)
  • Barry Gardiner, shadow international trade secretary (endorsed Long-Bailey)
  • Dan Jarvis, MP for Barnsley Central, Mayor of the Sheffield City Region (nominated Nandy)
  • David Lammy, former universities minister (endorsed Starmer)
  • Ian Lavery, Chair of the Labour Party (endorsed Long-Bailey)
  • John McDonnell, shadow chancellor (endorsed Long-Bailey)
  • Angela Rayner, shadow education secretary (running for deputy leader, endorsed Long-Bailey)

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 % Nominations % Nominations
Keir Starmer
88 / 212
41.5% YesY
369 / 647
57% YesY
12 / 32
YesY
Rebecca Long-Bailey
34 / 212
16% YesY
159 / 647
24.6% YesY
7 / 32
YesY
Lisa Nandy
31 / 212
14.6% YesY
71 / 647
11% YesY
3 / 32
YesY
Emily Thornberry
23 / 212
10.8% YesY
30 / 647
4.6%
0 / 32
Jess Phillips (withdrawn)
23 / 212
10.8% YesY
0 / 647
0%
0 / 32
Clive Lewis (withdrawn)
5 / 212
2.4%
Total nominations
198 / 212
93.4%
630 / 647
97.4%
22 / 32

Timeline

Candidate status
Nominated candidate
Eliminated candidate
Withdrawn candidate
Events
Corbyn announces his resignation
Nominations from the PLP and EPLP close
First leadership hustings
Nominations from CLPs and affiliates close
Membership ballot opens
Membership ballot closes
Result announced
EasyTimeline 1.90


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List of supporters

Starmer Trevor Chinn

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