NEW LABOUR PARTY LEADER ANNOUNCED

The new Labour leader is Sir Keir Starmer


Saturday 4th April 2020


Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to lead Labour "into a new era with confidence and hope" after decisively winning the contest to succeed Jeremy Corbyn.

The 57-year old defeated Lisa Nandy and Rebecca Long-Bailey in a ballot of party members and other supporters.

The lawyer, who became an MP in 2015, won on the first round of voting, with more than 50% of ballots cast.

After his victory, Sir Keir spoke to PM Boris Johnson and agreed to meet next week to discuss the coronavirus crisis.
In a video message released by the Labour Party, Sir Keir promised to work constructively in opposition and said he hoped Labour "when the time comes can serve our country again - in government".

And he apologised for the "stain" of anti-Semitism that has tainted Labour in recent years. He pledged to "tear out this poison by its roots" and said his success would be judged on whether former Jewish members return to Labour.
Analysis from Laura Kuenssberg: The task facing Labour's new leader


Just over 490,000 people voted, out of the 784,151 eligible to take part in the three-month contest triggered by Mr Corbyn's decision to step down after Labour's heavy defeat in last year's general election.

Sir Keir won a majority in every section of Labour's selectorate, including 78% of the 13,000 registered supporters who paid a one-off £25 fee to take part.


Meanwhile, shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner has been elected deputy leader, replacing Tom Watson, who stood down as an MP before the election. She defeated four other candidates but the contest was much closer, going to a third round of voting.

Saturday's result was announced by e-mail after plans for a public event were dropped due to the coronavirus crisis.


Sir Keir has described himself as a socialist but not a Corbynite, and vowed to keep key policies from the Corbyn era, such as nationalising rail, mail and water and repealing anti-union laws, in a 10-point plan.

The MP for Holborn and St Pancras, in London, had been the odds-on favourite to win the contest, having received the backing of more MPs and local Labour branches than his rivals as well as significant union support.

He led the Crown Prosecution Service before entering frontline politics. He served in Mr Corbyn's top team for more than three years where he was responsible for the party's Brexit policy.

His two rivals paid tribute to him, Mrs Long-Bailey saying he would be make "brilliant prime minister" and she "would do all she could to make that a reality".

Ms Nandy said she was proud of her campaign and offered Labour's new leader her "full support in the challenges that lie ahead. Our country is crying out for fresh leadership. We start today."


Sir Keir's first task will be to lead Labour's response to the coronavirus emergency, and he has accepted an invitation to take part in cross-party talks with the prime minister and the government's top scientific advisers next week, to "work together" on the crisis.

He has already spoken to England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, about the current situation.

Sir Keir said he had been elected "at a moment like no other" and promised to work "constructively" with the government to confront the pandemic and not engage in "opposition for opposition's sake".

But he added: "We will shine a torch on critical issues and where we see mistakes or faltering government or things not happening as quickly as they should we'll challenge that and call that out.

"Our purpose when we do that is the same as the government's, to save lives and to protect our country."
Mr Corbyn congratulated his successor and said he looked forward to working with him to "elect the next Labour government and transform our country".


Sir Keir received an early boost after his supporters won effective control of Labour's National Executive Committee, the party's ruling body, following a series of separate elections.

The BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg said Sir Keir's team had not been expecting a clean sweep and it would make it much easier for him to run the party and make any changes he wanted.


The full results of the leadership contest were:

Sir Keir Starmer - 275,780 votes (56.2%)

Rebecca Long-Bailey - 135,218 votes (27.6%)

Lisa Nandy - 79,597 votes (16.2%)

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I'm not a particular follower of any single political party; I prefer instead to judge individuals by their actions/deeds

However, after what I consider to the the 'dead' years of Corbyn and the pushing of his disciple, Rebecca Long-Bailey, I find it refreshing that the vast majority of the Labour Party have united behind a sensible, pragmatic leadership candidate in Sir Keir Starmer

Not a career politician, Sir Keir made his name as a lawyer and specialised in human rights before becoming Director of Public prosecutions (DPP)

His entry into politics in 2015 saw a fast rise to the top of his Party and he earned the respect of members from both sides of the House with his non-partisan views and wish to engage with people on all sides who could 'make a difference and take this country forward'

Time will tell but I see a potential return of the Labour Party under his stewardship

The Labour members finally chose a good leader .

Anyone else on the list and they would never get a chance of getting back in.

The Labour members finally chose a good leader .

Anyone else on the list and they would never get a chance of getting back in.

Annis, it seems the Labour Party have finally seen sense...

Now they have an opportunity to pull together and give the broader electorate a real choice

I think he was the one Labour candidate that Boris and the Tory Troupe will respect. I see a concerted attempt to tone down the personalities moving forward (Gove has already said positive things) and that can only be good for 'proper' politics to occur in the UK

Thumbs up from me...but time alone will be the judge of that!

Any move away from the dated 70's Marxist cannot be anything but a step forward.
Let's hope he roots out the anti semitism now he's in charge and not hides away as he has done previously

Congrats Sir Kier.. but I’m not so sure. He masterminded the recent disastrous election campaign, and on Andrew Neil recently he wilted.

a good choice fair play

In my opinion Sir Keir Starmer was the best of a poor lot, Rebecca Long-Bailey made the final 3 and still got 25% of the votes, but there is no getting away from the fact that Keir Starmer is totally pro-european, never accepted the result of the referendum, always supported a 2nd referendum and was the architect of Labours disastrous policy during the last General Election campaign.

No doubt he is a very decent and honourable man but I bet he has Ed Davey on speed dial and has been already talking about pro european alliances in Parliament with a single aim, returning the UK to the EU.

I don't think Boris Johnson will be losing much sleep over his victory.

The Labour members finally chose a good leader .

Anyone else on the list and they would never get a chance of getting back in.

Couldn't agree more Annis. In 2010 Labour went with Ed Milliband which most sensible Labour Party supporters knew was a mistake and were eventually proved right. In 2015 it got worse with Jeremy Corbyn elected as leader who was a total disaster and frankly that was so predictable.

I gave up my Labour membership 2 years ago due to Labour's BREXIT policy (which was a complete nonsense) and the Antisemitism scandal which was sickening.

Providing Antisemitism is properly tackled and there is no nonsense about a second referendum or rejoining the EU I will return to the fold in the near future.

In my opinion Sir Keir Starmer was the best of a poor lot, Rebecca Long-Bailey made the final 3 and still got 25% of the votes, but there is no getting away from the fact that Keir Starmer is totally pro-european, never accepted the result of the referendum, always supported a 2nd referendum and was the architect of Labours disastrous policy during the last General Election campaign.

No doubt he is a very decent and honourable man but I bet he has Ed Davey on speed dial and has been already talking about pro european alliances in Parliament with a single aim, returning the UK to the EU.

I don't think Boris Johnson will be losing much sleep over his victory.

I agree he totally blotted his copybook with his disastrous election policy on BREXIT.

However, like most politicians he will have to be pragmatic. Labour have no chance of regaining power if they don't appeal again to the 'red wall' seats they lost to the Tories due their pro-European stance.

If he is as clever as he thinks he is BREXIT will never be an issue for Labour and he will quietly accept the 2016 referendum and the implication of the General Election in 2019.

If he doesn't then Labour will lose the next election and in 5 years time there will be another leadership contest.

In my opinion Sir Keir Starmer was the best of a poor lot, Rebecca Long-Bailey made the final 3 and still got 25% of the votes, but there is no getting away from the fact that Keir Starmer is totally pro-european, never accepted the result of the referendum, always supported a 2nd referendum and was the architect of Labours disastrous policy during the last General Election campaign.

No doubt he is a very decent and honourable man but I bet he has Ed Davey on speed dial and has been already talking about pro european alliances in Parliament with a single aim, returning the UK to the EU.

I don't think Boris Johnson will be losing much sleep over his victory.

I agree he totally blotted his copybook with his disastrous election policy on BREXIT.

However, like most politicians he will have to be pragmatic. Labour have no chance of regaining power if they don't appeal again to the 'red wall' seats they lost to the Tories due their pro-European stance.

If he is as clever as he thinks he is BREXIT will never be an issue for Labour and he will quietly accept the 2016 referendum and the implication of the General Election in 2019.

If he doesn't then Labour will lose the next election and in 5 years time there will be another leadership contest.

Labour have simply jumped two decades from the 70's to the 90's.

Until proved otherwise i consider him to be a metropolitan middle class globalist without a finger on the pulse of the nation.

This pandemic has proved that the offshoring of the last 30 years have left the west but especially the uber globalist UK (all parties) very dependant on foreign cooperation. As soon as it got tasty all countries pulled up the drawbridges and said "us first f**k everyone else"

The US redirected a 3M shipment of masks from China destined for Germany. Germany and France stopped exporting medical equipment even to EU countries.

Boris is a clown, but he is a clown with a better feel for the country than Starmer. (How bad is that?)

Labour have simply jumped two decades from the 70's to the 90's.

Until proved otherwise i consider him to be a metropolitan middle class globalist without a finger on the pulse of the nation.

This pandemic has proved that the offshoring of the last 30 years have left the west but especially the uber globalist UK (all parties) very dependant on foreign cooperation. As soon as it got tasty all countries pulled up the drawbridges and said "us first f**k everyone else"

The US redirected a 3M shipment of masks from China destined for Germany. Germany and France stopped exporting medical equipment even to EU countries.

Boris is a clown, but he is a clown with a better feel for the country than Starmer. (How bad is that?)

hard to believe how much of this intercepting medical supplies is going on.. the Germans called it piracy but have been at it themselves..

We'd do the same.. of we didnt there'd be uproar. Its the old Mittelstand sticking together and you cant blame them.

Off topic but wheres Worcester? He was a big fan of Starmer, just realised havnt seen him on for a while, hope he's alright.

The Labour members finally chose a good leader .

Anyone else on the list and they would never get a chance of getting back in.

Morning Annis. As you know I live in Wigan and have met Lisa Nandy at a labour party meeting. She is an honest lovely person who has a great reputation here in the Wigan and the NW.

But Keir Starmer has always had my vote.

He is the only person who, in my opinion, can get labout back into government.

As an Ex-Barrister he will appeal to a certain section of Tory Voters. Labour need this attraction if they want to steal votes and return to power.

He looks the part. He looks like a leader. When he stands up and speaks he looks like someone people will respect. I liked JC but unfortunately he didnt look the part. And rightly or wrongly this is an important part of todays media society.

He is a great speaker. He commands his audience. And, as an ex-barrister, tackles awkward questions well.

Personally speaking I think Labour are on the way back.

In my opinion Sir Keir Starmer was the best of a poor lot, Rebecca Long-Bailey made the final 3 and still got 25% of the votes, but there is no getting away from the fact that Keir Starmer is totally pro-european, never accepted the result of the referendum, always supported a 2nd referendum and was the architect of Labours disastrous policy during the last General Election campaign.

No doubt he is a very decent and honourable man but I bet he has Ed Davey on speed dial and has been already talking about pro european alliances in Parliament with a single aim, returning the UK to the EU.

I don't think Boris Johnson will be losing much sleep over his victory.

I don’t know too much about Starmer but he comes over well and I can actually see him as a leader unlike Corbyn.

Your point about Boris not being worried about him maybe right but I have a feeling he will have many other more serious challenges once the fallout of COVID-19 gets into the public domain.

The decision not to test and then subsequent u-turn would be bad enough. But when it comes out that he then gazumped the Welsh Assembly who had actually planned properly it’s going to be very difficult for him to argue that he’s looking after all of the UK equally.

The fallout will be long and difficult for Boris. To be fair he did show good leadership qualities but his decision making may come back to haunt him in a big way.

The Labour members finally chose a good leader .

Anyone else on the list and they would never get a chance of getting back in.

Annis, it seems the Labour Party have finally seen sense...

Now they have an opportunity to pull together and give the broader electorate a real choice

I think he was the one Labour candidate that Boris and the Tory Troupe will respect. I see a concerted attempt to tone down the personalities moving forward (Gove has already said positive things) and that can only be good for 'proper' politics to occur in the UK

Thumbs up from me...but time alone will be the judge of that!

Well he was very instrumental in the Labour party’s Brexit stance which arguably caused the absolute carnage that was the Labour result at the last election.

Yes, an idiot policy he then went on to defend.

It's nice to see the Labour Party supporters on here have something to be cheerful about but I fear their joy will be short lived,the Party is in terminal decline and Momentum hasn't gone away they will be ready to tear the new leader apart if he steps out of line,so my advise to the Socialists on here is to make the most of your optimism while it lasts

day 2 into the job and I see the press/twitter are linking him to saville Saville helping him evade justice so they say

looks like the press have found someone else to destroy before they he's even began

I'm not a particular follower of any single political party; I prefer instead to judge individuals by their actions/deeds

However, after what I consider to the the 'dead' years of Corbyn and the pushing of his disciple, Rebecca Long-Bailey, I find it refreshing that the vast majority of the Labour Party have united behind a sensible, pragmatic leadership candidate in Sir Keir Starmer

Not a career politician, Sir Keir made his name as a lawyer and specialised in human rights before becoming Director of Public prosecutions (DPP)

His entry into politics in 2015 saw a fast rise to the top of his Party and he earned the respect of members from both sides of the House with his non-partisan views and wish to engage with people on all sides who could 'make a difference and take this country forward'

Time will tell but I see a potential return of the Labour Party under his stewardship

Sven, I agree that he could be a refreshing change (we hope) from the "momentum" arm of the champagne socialists party BUT "respect for his non-partisan views??

He was a major figure in promoting and advocating staying in the European Union by another vote at Labour conference along with his Human Rights sidekick Shami Chakrabarti and look at how that turned out:

Labour conference delegates overwhelmingly backed the party’s Brexit policy on Tuesday after Keir Starmer sparked a burst of sustained applause for dropping into his conference speech the line that “nobody is ruling out remain as an option”.

Indeed He was one of the stronger voices for reversing the British Referendum decision and look where that got the Labour Party !

But I do hope he brings a credible Opposition to some rampant Right wing policies.

Good Luck to Him as he does have a very difficult job uniting His party.

day 2 into the job and I see the press/twitter are linking him to saville Saville helping him evade justice so they say

looks like the press have found someone else to destroy before they he's even began

Nearly every Labour leader has faced the same.

Congrats Sir Kier.. but I’m not so sure. He masterminded the recent disastrous election campaign, and on Andrew Neil recently he wilted.

The same Andrew Neil that Boris was scared of during the election and failed to show up?

Yes, it’s the same guy. Brilliance of this nature is a rare gift indeed..

May as well be Niger Starmer-Smith or I-KEA

Boris will be in power longer than Thatcher, kier is a raving remainer and a advocate for free movement of people ,labour are finished for years