2015 Labour Party Leadership Election (uk)
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The 2015 Labour Party leadership election was triggered by the resignation of Ed Miliband as Leader of the Labour Party on 8 May 2015, following the party's defeat at the 2015 general election. Harriet Harman, the Deputy Leader, became Acting Leader but announced that she would stand down following the leadership election. It was won by
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...
in the first round. Coterminous with the leadership election, in the 2015 Labour Party deputy leadership election, Tom Watson was elected to succeed Harman as deputy leader. Four candidates were successfully nominated to stand in the election: Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Jeremy Corbyn, and Liz Kendall. The voting process began on Friday 14 August 2015 and closed on Thursday 10 September 2015, and the results were announced on Saturday 12 September 2015. Voting was by Labour Party members and registered and affiliated supporters, using the
alternative vote Instant-runoff voting (IRV; ranked-choice voting (RCV), preferential voting, alternative vote) is a single-winner ranked voting election system where one or more eliminations are used to simulate runoff elections. When no candidate has a ...
system. Support for Corbyn, who entered the race as a dark horse candidate, and the release of opinion polls which showed him leading the race, led to high-profile interventions by a number of prominent Labour figures including Gordon Brown,
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
, Jack Straw, David Miliband, and Alastair Campbell, among others, many of whom argued that Corbyn's election as leader would leave the party unelectable. Despite these interventions, Corbyn was elected in the first round receiving 59.5% of the votes, winning in all three sections of the ballot. Less than a year later, a leadership challenge saw another leadership election, where Corbyn again won, with an increased share of the vote.


Procedure

The leadership election, triggered by Ed Miliband's resignation, took place under the reformed rules adopted from the proposals of the February 2014 Collins Report, which was led by Ray Collins, and was itself partly the result of calls for inquiry and reform relating to the 2013 Falkirk Selection Scandal. The plan entailed a shorter election than the one that took place in
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, with a new leader being in place before Labour's party conference in September 2015. The review changed the way in which Labour elects leaders. Under the former system, a three-way electoral college chose the leader, with one-third weight given to the votes of the Parliamentary Labour Party (i.e., Labour members of the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
and Labour members of the European Parliament), one-third to individual Labour Party members, and one third to the trade union and affiliated societies sections. Following the Collins review, the electoral college was replaced by a pure " one member, one vote" (OMOV) system. Candidates are elected by members and registered and affiliated supporters, who all receive a maximum of one vote and all votes are weighted equally. This meant that, for example, members of Labour-affiliated trade unions needed to register as Labour supporters to vote. To stand, candidates now needed to be nominated by at least 15% of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), i.e. 35 MPs, at that time. The vote, as in previous elections, was held under the
alternative vote Instant-runoff voting (IRV; ranked-choice voting (RCV), preferential voting, alternative vote) is a single-winner ranked voting election system where one or more eliminations are used to simulate runoff elections. When no candidate has a ...
(instant-runoff) system. The deputy leadership election was held under the same rules. The election itself was overseen by Electoral Reform Services. In late August, the Labour Party reported that about 552,000 members and supporters were eligible to vote; about 292,000 full members, 148,000 affiliated supporters (members of trade unions and socialist societies who opted to affiliate), plus 112,000 registered supporters.


Timetable

A meeting of Labour's National Executive Committee took place on 13 May 2015 to set a timetable and procedure for the two elections. * ''Tuesday 9 June 2015'' – Nominations open * ''Monday 15 June 2015 (12:00)'' – Nominations for the Leader close * ''Wednesday 17 June 2015 (12:00)'' – Nominations for the Deputy Leader close * ''Wednesday 17 June 2015 (12:00)'' – Hustings period opens * ''Friday 31 July 2015 (12:00)'' – Supporting nominations close * ''Wednesday 12 August 2015 (15:00)'' – Last date to join as member, affiliated support or registered supporter and be able to vote * ''Friday 14 August 2015'' – Ballot papers are sent out * ''Thursday 10 September 2015 (12:00)'' – Ballot closes * ''Saturday 12 September 2015'' – Special Conference to announce the results The deadline on 12 August 2015 to join as a member or supporter was extended by 3 hours due to heavy demand making the party website difficult to use.


Candidates


Nominated

To be placed on the ballot, candidates for leader had to obtain the nominations of 35 MPs. An MP who nominates a candidate does not have to subsequently support, or vote for, that candidate. Some MPs have stated that they nominated only to ensure that candidate got onto the ballot paper. The number of MPs next to the candidate's name below includes the candidate, who can count as one of the 35 MPs needed. Public nominations for candidates by MPs were as follows: * Andy Burnham (68): Debbie Abrahams, Heidi Alexander, David Anderson, Hilary Benn,
Luciana Berger Luciana Clare Berger, Baroness Berger (; born 13 May 1981) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree from 2010 to 2019, and a Member of the House of Lords since 2025 ...
, Clive Betts, Paul Blomfield, Kevin Brennan, Julie Cooper, David Crausby, Alex Cunningham, Wayne David, Peter Dowd, Michael Dugher, Bill Esterson, Paul Farrelly, Rob Flello, Yvonne Fovargue, Pat Glass, Mary Glindon, Lilian Greenwood, Margaret Greenwood, Nia Griffith, Andrew Gwynne, Harry Harpham, Carolyn Harris, Stephen Hepburn, Kate Hoey, Kate Hollern, Dan Jarvis, Gerald Jones, Graham Jones, Barbara Keeley, Ian Lavery, Emma Lewell-Buck, Ian Lucas, Holly Lynch,
Justin Madders Justin Piers Richard Madders (born 22 November 1972) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellesmere Port and Bromborough, previously Ellesmere Port and Neston, since 2015. He has served as Pa ...
, Rachael Maskell, Chris Matheson, Kerry McCarthy, Andy McDonald, Conor McGinn, Liz McInnes, Alan Meale, Ian Mearns, Lisa Nandy, Albert Owen, Teresa Pearce, Lucy Powell,
Yasmin Qureshi Yasmin Qureshi (born 5 July 1963) is a Pakistan-born British politician and barrister. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton South and Walkden since 2024, previously representing Bolton South East from 2010 to 2024. A member ...
, Angela Rayner, Jamie Reed, Christina Rees, Rachel Reeves, Steve Rotheram, Jeff Smith,
Owen Smith Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a British lobbyist and former Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. Smith was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontypridd (UK Parliament constituency), Pontypridd from 2 ...
, Keir Starmer, Jo Stevens, Nick Thomas-Symonds, Anna Turley, Karl Turner, Derek Twigg, Valerie Vaz, Alan Whitehead, Iain Wright * Yvette Cooper (59): Jonathan Ashworth, Ian Austin, Adrian Bailey, Roberta Blackman-Woods, Lyn Brown, Nick Brown, Chris Bryant, Karen Buck, Richard Burden, Liam Byrne, Ruth Cadbury, Ann Clwyd, Vernon Coaker, Judith Cummins, Jim Cunningham, Nic Dakin, Geraint Davies, Thangam Debbonaire, Jack Dromey, Maria Eagle, Jim Fitzpatrick, Colleen Fletcher, Vicky Foxcroft, Helen Goodman,
Kate Green Katherine Anne Green (born 2 May 1960) is a British politician serving as Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester for Policing and Crime since 2023. She previously served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stretford and Urmston between 2010 and 202 ...
, Fabian Hamilton, David Hanson, Sue Hayman, John Healey, Sharon Hodgson, George Howarth, Diana Johnson, Helen Jones,
Kevan Jones Kevan David Jones, Baron Beamish, (born 25 April 1964), is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for North Durham from 2001 to 2024. He has been a me ...
, Stephen Kinnock, Chris Leslie, Khalid Mahmood, Shabana Mahmood, Seema Malhotra, John Mann, Steve McCabe, Catherine McKinnell, Madeleine Moon, Melanie Onn, Matthew Pennycook, Jess Phillips, Bridget Phillipson, Stephen Pound, Marie Rimmer, Geoffrey Robinson, Naz Shah, Virendra Sharma, Paula Sherriff, Andy Slaughter, Ruth Smeeth, Karin Smyth, John Spellar,
Daniel Zeichner Daniel Stephen Zeichner (born 9 November 1956) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cambridge since 2015. He has served as Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs since July 2024. ...
* Liz Kendall (41): Kevin Barron, Tom Blenkinsop, Jenny Chapman, Ann Coffey, Simon Danczuk, Gloria De Piero,
Stephen Doughty Stephen John Doughty (born 15 April 1980) is a Welsh Labour Co-op politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiff South and Penarth since 2012. He has served as Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Ter ...
, Jim Dowd, Julie Elliott, Louise Ellman, Chris Evans, Paul Flynn, Mike Gapes, Mark Hendrick, Margaret Hodge, Tristram Hunt, Mike Kane, Peter Kyle, Ivan Lewis, Fiona Mactaggart, Siobhain McDonagh, Pat McFadden, Alison McGovern, Jessica Morden, Toby Perkins, Steve Reed,
Jonathan Reynolds Jonathan Neil Reynolds (born 28 August 1980) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Business and Trade and President of the Board of Trade since July 2024. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, he has been ...
,
Emma Reynolds Emma Elizabeth Reynolds (born 2 November 1977) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who has served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister since January 2025. She was elected as Member of Parliament (United Ki ...
, Joan Ryan, Barry Sheerman, Gavin Shuker, Nick Smith, Angela Smith, Wes Streeting, Gisela Stuart, Stephen Timms, Stephen Twigg, Chuka Umunna, Phil Wilson, John Woodcock *
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...
(36): Diane Abbott, Rushanara Ali, Margaret Beckett, Richard Burgon, Dawn Butler, Ronnie Campbell, Sarah Champion, Jo Cox, Neil Coyle, Jon Cruddas, Clive Efford, Frank Field,
Louise Haigh Louise Margaret Haigh () is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Transport from July to November 2024. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliam ...
, Kelvin Hopkins, Rupa Huq, Imran Hussain, Huw Irranca-Davies,
Sadiq Khan Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...
, David Lammy, Clive Lewis, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Gordon Marsden, John McDonnell, Michael Meacher, Grahame Morris,
Chi Onwurah Dame Chinyelu Susan "Chi" Onwurah (; born 12 April 1965) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (UK Parliament constituency), Newcastle ...
, Kate Osamor, Tulip Siddiq, Dennis Skinner, Andrew Smith, Cat Smith, Gareth Thomas, Emily Thornberry, Jon Trickett, Catherine West Before dropping out of the race on 12 June, Mary Creagh had 10 nominations: Sarah Champion, Jo Cox, Neil Coyle, Thangam Debbonaire,
Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur (; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress. Often referred to as the "First Lady of American Theatre", she was the second person and first woman to win EGOT, the EGOT (an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and ...
, Susan Jones, Mike Kane, Stephen Kinnock, Tulip Siddiq A total of 26 Labour MPs did not nominate any candidate: Graham Allen, Ben Bradshaw, Alan Campbell, Rosie Cooper, Mary Creagh, Stella Creasy, John Cryer, Angela Eagle, Natascha Engel, Caroline Flint, Barry Gardiner, Roger Godsiff, Harriet Harman, Meg Hillier,
Lindsay Hoyle Sir Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (born 10 June 1957) is a British politician who has served as Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons since 2019 and as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliamen ...
, Alan Johnson, Gerald Kaufman, Ed Miliband, Rob Marris, Ian Murray,
Graham Stringer Graham Eric Stringer (born 17 February 1950) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who has served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Blackley and Middleton South since the 2024 United Kingdom general e ...
, Mark Tami, Keith Vaz, Tom Watson, David Winnick, Rosie Winterton


Withdrew

* Mary Creagh, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development and MP for Wakefield * Chuka Umunna, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and MP for StreathamChuka Umunna withdraws Labour leader bid
-
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
(retrieved 15 May 2015)


Declined

* Diane Abbott, former Shadow Minister for Public Health, candidate for leader in 2010 and MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington ( running for Mayor of London) * Rushanara Ali, former Shadow Minister for Education and MP for Bethnal Green and Bow ( running for Deputy Leader) * Stella Creasy, MP for
Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...
( running for Deputy Leader) * Angela Eagle, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, former Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and MP for
Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...
( running for Deputy Leader)Liam Murphy
"Wallasey MP Angela Eagle joins race to be Labour's deputy leader"
, ''Liverpool Echo'' (18 May 2015).
* Tristram Hunt,
Shadow Secretary of State for Education The shadow secretary of state for education, also called the shadow education secretary, is an office in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet responsible for Official Opposition (United King ...
and MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central * Dan Jarvis, Shadow Minister of Justice and MP for Barnsley Central * Alan Johnson, former
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...
, former Secretary of State for Health and MP for Hull West and Hessle * David Lammy, former Minister of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills and MP for
Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...
( ran for Mayor of London) * Ian Lavery, MP for Wansbeck * John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington * Alison McGovern, MP for Wirral South * Lisa Nandy, MP for
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
* Jamie Reed, MP for Copeland * Rachel Reeves, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and MP for Leeds West *
Owen Smith Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a British lobbyist and former Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. Smith was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontypridd (UK Parliament constituency), Pontypridd from 2 ...
, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales and MP for
Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...
* Keir Starmer, former Director of Public Prosecutions and MP for Holborn and St Pancras * Jon Trickett, Shadow Minister without Portfolio, former Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and MP for Hemsworth


Endorsements


Media reaction


Burnham

Burnham was praised for having both "a radical left-wing vision" and being credible enough "to unite the party and win back power", as well as for being someone who "actually listens to party members and the public". Burnham attracted press criticism for claiming £17,000 a year from the taxpayer to rent a London flat, despite owning another within walking distance of the House of Commons. A spokesman for Burnham said that renting out the original flat was necessary to "cover his costs" as parliamentary rule changes meant he was no longer able to claim for mortgage interest expenses. Burnham was criticised for saying that Labour should have a woman leader "when the time is right", with the ''
New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
'' saying that he had "tripped over his mouth again".


Cooper

Cooper was praised by the ''
Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...
'' for her hard work in local constituencies during the leadership contest and for her preparation for the Local Government Association hustings. She has been criticised both for thanking David Miliband for putting her as his second choice (after Liz Kendall) and for her "broken, downbeat delivery".


Corbyn

Corbyn's leadership bid was the subject of fierce discussion within the media. Janan Ganesh in the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'' argued that the election of Corbyn "spells disaster" for the Labour Party. Owen Jones argued in ''The Guardian'' that the reason Corbyn was so popular was because he "offers a coherent, inspiring and, crucially, a hopeful vision" addressing social injustice and economic inequality, comparing the surge of support for Corbyn to the popularity of both UKIP in England and the
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...
(SNP) in Scotland.


Kendall

In June 2015, Kendall's leadership bid received praise from '' The Sun'', who said that she is the "only prayer they he Labour Partyhave". ''The Sun'' also praised her for saying 'the country comes first' in response to Andy Burnham who said 'the abourParty always comes first' in the '' Newsnight'' Labour leadership hustings. Commentators from across the political spectrum have said that Kendall is the leadership candidate that the Conservatives "fear the most". However, the Huffington Post criticised her, saying " Liz Kendall just doesn't seem to have it, she seems to be always on the verge of tripping over her own words, as if she is perpetually being caught off guard."


Dispute over election integrity

One of the most notable features of the election was the large increase in Labour Party membership, and the registration of significant numbers of the new affiliated and registered classes of voting supporters, during the period of the campaign. Concern was expressed that the new rules were unfairly benefiting Corbyn, and there might be a legal challenge, but in the event the result was so decisive these concerns were not pursued after the election. In June 2015, the Conservative-identifying political commentator Toby Young wrote in the ''Telegraph'' encouraging Conservatives to join Labour to vote for
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...
, his reason being "to consign Labour to electoral oblivion". This trended on Twitter as #ToriesforCorbyn and the attempt, as well as Labour's response, were subject to criticism. Two days later the Communist Party of Great Britain (Provisional Central Committee) wrote also in support of Corbyn. Following this, Labour MP John Mann called for the election to be halted. Acting leader of the party Harriet Harman responded by calling on constituency parties to check new members, but stated that Labour has "a robust system to prevent fraudulent or malicious applications." Labour MP Fabian Hamilton stated there was "no evidence" that groups were trying to infiltrate the election. Leadership candidates Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall also responded by saying there was no evidence of infiltration, and while not dismissing the claims, Corbyn stated he only wanted "genuine Labour supporters" to vote for him.


Rejected voters

It emerged in early August 2015 that 260 former candidates from the Green Party, Left Unity and the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition had attempted to become registered supporters but would now be blocked from voting. Shortly before this it was revealed that Conservative MP and former junior minister Tim Loughton had been caught applying to become a registered Labour supporter, subsequently claiming that his intention was to "blow the gaff on what a complete farce the whole thing is". Veteran Labour MP Barry Sheerman also joined calls for the election to be "paused" over the fears of infiltration by other parties. The Labour Party told representatives of the four candidates at a meeting on 11 August that 1,200 members and supporters of other parties had been excluded and a further 800 were under investigation. Harriet Harman at the time admitted that as many as 100,000 people may be blocked from voting. The number of those rejected would eventually reach 56,000, around 9.1% of the 610,753 considered eligible to vote at the start of the contest. According to the party, 45,000 of those were rejected for not being on the electoral register. Labour also confirmed that it would cancel supporters' votes after they had been cast if it was found that they were members of other parties. A number of high-profile individuals were blocked from voting, including Marcus Chown,
Jeremy Hardy Jeremy James Hardy (17 July 1961 – 1 February 2019) was an English comedian. Born and raised in Hampshire, Hardy studied at the University of Southampton and began his stand-up career in the 1980s, going on to win the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, ...
, Douglas Henshall, Ken Loach, Francesca Martinez, Mark Serwotka, Pete Sinclair, Mark Steel, Luke Wright and Toby Young. Andrew MacKinlay, a former Labour MP, further alleged that Labour was attempting to rig its own leadership election against Corbyn; a view shared by comedian
Jeremy Hardy Jeremy James Hardy (17 July 1961 – 1 February 2019) was an English comedian. Born and raised in Hampshire, Hardy studied at the University of Southampton and began his stand-up career in the 1980s, going on to win the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, ...
. Such allegations became known to the media – and particularly Corbyn supporters – as the "Labour
Purge In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertaking such an ...
", with #LabourPurge trending on Twitter. Claims of such a "purge" of Corbyn supporters were rejected by Harman who insisted that the exclusion processes were impartial to candidates. Scottish newspaper '' The National'' printed a page-long satirical cartoon speculating further vote-rigging by Labour's leadership.


Missing ballots

With less than 24 hours to go before the voting deadline, the party closed their telephone helpline. The move came during widespread complaints from "thousands" of voters who were missing emailed or physical ballot papers. ''The Guardian'' reported that one of their sources in the leadership camps stated that "the party has basically decided to stop taking calls and if you don't have a vote, you're now basically not getting one." The party refused to confirm how many ballot papers had actually been sent. Andy Burnham publicly criticised the number of missing ballots and the closure of the phone line. Labour MP David Lammy called for a full inquiry into the missing ballot papers. Of the 200 people his team phone called in London on the eve of the deadline, one in five were missing their ballots.


Debates


Television


Radio


Online


Opinion polling

The polls in this section have been undertaken by media pollsters known to use industry standard polling methods. The polls below were conducted after nominations for the leadership ballot closed. Where there is more than one line for a poll, this is for when a candidate has been eliminated and their second or third preference votes passed onto another candidate.


Polling of eligible voters

The polls below show voting intention amongst those eligible to vote in the leadership election.


July 2015


August 2015


Polling of Labour voters

The polls below asked Labour supporters across the country how they would vote in the leadership election if they were eligible.


Polling of British voters

The polls below asked voters across the country how they would vote in the leadership election if they were eligible.


Polling of London voters

The polls below asked voters in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
how they would vote in the leadership election if they were eligible.


Polling before close of nominations


Labour members

The polls below were conducted before nominations for the leadership closed and therefore include Labour politicians who were not in the final four candidates who were nominated.


Labour voters


Former Labour PPCs


British residents


Result

Turnout for the vote was 422,871 (76.3%) of the 554,272 eligible voters, with 207 spoilt ballots. 343,995 votes (81.3%) were cast online, the UK's largest online ballot.


Political reaction to the result


Domestic

;Labour Party Ed Miliband, former
party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a politica ...
, offered his support to Corbyn and urged other Labour MPs to do so, though he ruled himself out of taking on a position in Corbyn's shadow cabinet, to focus on representing his constituency. Kezia Dugdale, then leader of
Scottish Labour Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party (UK), Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and Unionism in the United Kingdom, unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Sco ...
, declared that "politics has changed" and people desired a "radical change", with Corbyn's election to the leadership showing that Labour had "listened to that call". Carwyn Jones, then leader of
Welsh Labour Welsh Labour (), formerly known as the Labour Party in Wales (), is an autonomous section of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK), Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears have won a p ...
and First Minister of Wales, congratulated Corbyn and urged the party to embrace the fact that the campaign had "energised a huge number of people who were previously disengaged from party politics" and unite around their new leader. Corbyn's rivals for the leadership each reacted to the result. Andy Burnham said that
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...
was a politician with "very deep beliefs, very strong principles" which voters would embrace. Burnham later replaced Yvette Cooper as
Shadow Home Secretary In British politics, the shadow home secretary (formally known as the shadow secretary of state for the home department) is the person within the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (UK), shadow cabinet who shadows the home secretary; this effecti ...
after she announced that she would not serve on a Labour frontbench led by Corbyn and that she would instead focus on playing a role in the upcoming EU membership referendum. Following the close of voting, Liz Kendall made a speech reflecting on her campaign stating that, after the New Labour government, there was never any debate in relation to the direction the party should go, and it had created a split "between the party and the country". All three of Corbyn's opponents in the leadership election stated they would support Corbyn, that the result should be accepted and the party should focus on attacking the Conservative government. During the announcement of Corbyn's victory, Jamie Reed resigned as a Shadow Health Minister, citing his difference in opinion, with the new leader, over the replacement of the Trident missile system. Chris Leslie ( Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer), Yvette Cooper (
Shadow Home Secretary In British politics, the shadow home secretary (formally known as the shadow secretary of state for the home department) is the person within the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (UK), shadow cabinet who shadows the home secretary; this effecti ...
), Chuka Umunna ( Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills), Rachel Reeves ( Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions),
Emma Reynolds Emma Elizabeth Reynolds (born 2 November 1977) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who has served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister since January 2025. She was elected as Member of Parliament (United Ki ...
( Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government), Tristram Hunt (
Shadow Secretary of State for Education The shadow secretary of state for education, also called the shadow education secretary, is an office in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet responsible for Official Opposition (United King ...
), Mary Creagh ( Shadow Secretary of State for International Development) and Liz Kendall ( Shadow Minister for Care and Older People) also confirmed they would not serve in Corbyn's shadow cabinet. ;Conservative Party
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
, then leader of the Conservative Party and
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
, stated that Corbyn's win would make the Labour Party a threat "to our national security, to our economic security and to the security of your family". This echoed the same warning from other Cabinet ministers, including Michael Fallon, then Secretary of State for Defence, and from an email sent by Conservative Campaign Headquarters to party members. However Nick Hurd, former Minister for Civil Society, and Daniel Hannan, then MEP for
South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England that are in the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, top level category for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the nine counties of england, ...
, both warned their party against "complacency". Ruth Davidson, then leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, said that the result demonstrated that Labour had given up on being in government, and that many Labour MPs would show "despair at his appointment". ;UK Independence Party Nigel Farage, then leader of the UK Independence Party, congratulated Corbyn but added his concerns about the new Labour leader's immigration policies. Before Corbyn's win, Farage stated that Corbyn's "sweeping emergence on the Left of British politics, where he has helped re-engage many who had given up on politics, is a good thing for our democracy". ;Liberal Democrats Tim Farron, then leader of the Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrats, commented on the "massive space in the centre ground of British politics" that had been opened up, due to the perceived shift leftwards by Labour, and suggested that the Liberal Democrats would be able to appeal more directly to "sensible, moderate, progressives who are opposed to what the Conservatives are doing, but cannot bring themselves to support a party of the hard left". The President of the Liberal Democrats, Sal Brinton, accused Labour of abdicating "its responsibilities" as a party of effective opposition. Willie Rennie, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said that Corbyn's success meant a "return to the damaging see saw politics of the past". Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, attacked Corbyn as the "opposite of what this country needs", accusing Labour of returning to its 1970s policies. ;Green Party of England and Wales Natalie Bennett, then leader of the Green Party of England and Wales released a statement saying that her party would be "delighted" to work with Corbyn on a range of issues where they share common ground. ;Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...
and First Minister of Scotland, congratulated Corbyn on winning the leadership contest but claimed that Labour's failure to defeat the Conservatives at the 2017 United Kingdom general election, next general election would further the cause for Scottish independence and leave the SNP as the only real opposition. ;Plaid Cymru Leanne Wood, then leader of Plaid Cymru congratulated Corbyn and urged the Labour Party to join with her party's MPs in opposing "Tory policies that are causing great harm to people in Wales and beyond". ;Social Democratic and Labour Party Alasdair McDonnell, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party commended Corbyn on an "incredible election campaign" and urged him to work towards returning Labour to an electable position, as well as opposing Conservative policies. ;Ulster Unionist Party Mike Nesbitt, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party called on Corbyn to maintain Labour's policy towards Northern Ireland and "support agreements brought forward by the local parties".


International

* – Then President of Argentina, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner sent her congratulations to Corbyn, hailing him as "a great friend of Latin America". * – The country's governing party, Syriza, released a statement welcoming the election of Corbyn and arguing that the result would strengthen the "pan-European front against austerity". * – Gerry Adams, the President of Sinn Féin, tweeted his words of congratulation to Corbyn. * – Alexander Vladimirovich Yakovenko, Alexander Yakovenko, the List of ambassadors of Russia to the United Kingdom, Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, said that he hoped that Corbyn's election would create a "positive change" in the debate around Russia–United Kingdom relations. * – Íñigo Errejón, the Political Secretary of Podemos (Spanish political party), Podemos, described the result as being part of a "wave of change" across Northern Europe. * – U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, a Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign, candidate for the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries, nomination for President of the United States, president in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, announced that he was "delighted to see that the British Labour Party has elected
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...
as its new leader." He added: "We need leadership in every country in the world which tells the billionaire class that they cannot have it all. We need economies that work for working families, not just the people on top."


Analysis

Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said that it was not surprising that
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...
won the leadership contest, as all the candidates except for Corbyn essentially supported the Conservative government's austerity policies. As Krugman noted, not only the candidates but also the Labour moderates implicitly agreed with their opponents' idea that the government budget should always be balanced by the austerity policies.Labour’s Dead Center
, P. Krugman, The Opinion Pages, The New York Times, 14 Sep 2015
Krugman argued that it was a false claim that the Labour party, in power during 1997–2010, spent far beyond their means and caused a debt crisis. Economist Joseph Stiglitz, also a Nobel prize winner, argued that the Labour party platform was different from what a leftist party must do, saying that Labour had not opposed austerity programmes. He added that Corbyn's camp offered a left-wing agenda and therefore Stiglitz was not surprised at all that Corbyn became the contender for the leadership contest.Joseph Stiglitz: unsurprising Jeremy Corbyn is a Labour leadership contender
, T. Macalister, The Guardian, Politics, 26 Jul 2015


See also

* 2015 Labour Party deputy leadership election * 2015 London Labour Party mayoral selection * 2015 Scottish Labour leadership election * 2015 Liberal Democrats leadership election * 2016 Conservative Party leadership election * 2016 Labour Party leadership election (UK) * Political party affiliation in the United Kingdom


References


External links

{{UK Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn Andy Burnham 2015 in the United Kingdom, Labour Party leadership election 2015 in British politics, Labour Party leadership election 2015 elections in the United Kingdom, Labour Party leadership election 2015 Labour Party (UK) leadership election, Labour Party (UK) leadership elections, 2015 2015 political party leadership elections, Labour Party leadership election (UK) August 2015 in the United Kingdom, Labour Party leadership election September 2015 in the United Kingdom, Labour Party leadership election