2015 Labour Party leadership election

← 2010 14 August – 12 September 2015 (2015-08-14 – 2015-09-12) 2016 →
Turnout	422,871 (76.3%) 4.6 pp
Candidate Jeremy Corbyn Andy Burnham Popular vote 251,417 80,462 Percentage 59.5% 19.0%   Candidate Yvette Cooper Liz Kendall Popular vote 71,928 18,857 Percentage 17.0% 4.5%
Leader before election Harriet Harman (interim) Elected Leader Jeremy Corbyn

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.^[1] It was won by Jeremy Corbyn 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 system.

Support for Corbyn, who entered the race as a dark horse candidate,^[2] 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,^[3] Tony Blair,^[4] Jack Straw,^[5] David Miliband,^[6] and Alastair Campbell, among others,^[7] 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.^[8] The plan entailed a shorter election than the one that took place in 2010, with a new leader being in place before Labour's party conference in September 2015.^[9]

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 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.^[10] 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) system. The deputy leadership election was held under the same rules.

The election itself was overseen by Electoral Reform Services.^[11]

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.^[12][13]

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.^[14]

• 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^[15]
• 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.^[16]

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.^[17]

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:^[24]

• Andy Burnham (68): Debbie Abrahams, Heidi Alexander, David Anderson, Hilary Benn, Luciana Berger, 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, 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, Angela Rayner, Jamie Reed, Christina Rees, Rachel Reeves, Steve Rotheram, Jeff Smith, Owen Smith, Keir Starmer, Jo Stevens, Nick Thomas-Symonds, Anna Turley, Karl Turner, Derek Twigg, Valerie Vaz, Alan Whitehead, Iain Wright^[24]
• Yvette Cooper (59): Jon 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, Fabian Hamilton, David Hanson, Sue Hayman, John Healey, Sharon Hodgson, George Howarth, Diana Johnson, Helen Jones, Kevan Jones, 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^[24]
• Liz Kendall (41): Sir Kevin Barron, Tom Blenkinsop, Jenny Chapman, Ann Coffey, Simon Danczuk, Gloria De Piero, Stephen Doughty, 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, Emma Reynolds, Joan Ryan, Barry Sheerman, Gavin Shuker, Nick Smith, Angela Smith, Wes Streeting, Gisela Stuart, Stephen Timms, Stephen Twigg, Chuka Umunna, Phil Wilson, John Woodcock^[24]
• Jeremy Corbyn (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, Kelvin Hopkins, Rupa Huq, Imran Hussain, Huw Irranca-Davies, Sadiq Khan, David Lammy, Clive Lewis, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Gordon Marsden, John McDonnell, Michael Meacher, Grahame Morris, Chi Onwurah, Kate Osamor, Tulip Siddiq, Dennis Skinner, Andrew Smith, Cat Smith, Gareth Thomas, Emily Thornberry, Jon Trickett, Catherine West^[24]

Before dropping out of the race on 12 June, Mary Creagh had 10 nominations: Sarah Champion, Jo Cox, Neil Coyle, Thangam Debbonaire, Helen Hayes, Susan Jones, Mike Kane, Stephen Kinnock, Tulip Siddiq^[24]

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, Alan Johnson, Gerald Kaufman, Ed Miliband, Rob Marris, Ian Murray, Graham Stringer, Mark Tami, Keith Vaz, Tom Watson, David Winnick, Rosie Winterton

Withdrew

• Mary Creagh, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development and MP for Wakefield^[25]
• Chuka Umunna, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and MP for Streatham^[26][27][28]

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)^[29][30]
• Rushanara Ali, former Shadow Minister for Education and MP for Bethnal Green and Bow (running for Deputy Leader)^[31]
• Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow^[32][33] (running for Deputy Leader)^[34]
• Angela Eagle, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, former Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and MP for Wallasey^[35] (running for Deputy Leader)^[36]
• Tristram Hunt, Shadow Secretary of State for Education and MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central^[37][38]
• Dan Jarvis, Shadow Minister of Justice and MP for Barnsley Central^[39][40][41]
• Alan Johnson, former Home Secretary, former Secretary of State for Health and MP for Hull West and Hessle^[42][43]
• David Lammy, former Minister of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills and MP for Tottenham (ran for Mayor of London)^[43][44]
• Ian Lavery, MP for Wansbeck^[45][46]
• John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington^[47]
• Alison McGovern, MP for Wirral South^[48][49]
• Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan^[49][50]
• Jamie Reed, MP for Copeland^[51]
• Rachel Reeves, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and MP for Leeds West^[14][52]
• Owen Smith, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales and MP for Pontypridd^[53]
• Keir Starmer, former Director of Public Prosecutions and MP for Holborn and St Pancras^[54]
• Jon Trickett, Shadow Minister without Portfolio, former Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and MP for Hemsworth^{[citation needed]}

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",^[55] as well as for being someone who "actually listens to party members and the public".^[56]

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.^[57] Burnham was criticised for saying that Labour should have a woman leader "when the time is right", with the New Statesman saying that he had "tripped over his mouth again".

Cooper

Cooper was praised by the Huffington Post for her hard work in local constituencies during the leadership contest^[58] and for her preparation for the Local Government Association hustings.^[59]

She has been criticised both for thanking David Miliband for putting her as his second choice (after Liz Kendall)^[60] and for her "broken, downbeat delivery".^[61]

Corbyn

Corbyn's leadership bid was the subject of fierce discussion within the media. Janan Ganesh in the Financial Times argued that the election of Corbyn "spells disaster" for the Labour Party.^[62] 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 (SNP) in Scotland.^[63]

Kendall

In June 2015, Kendall's leadership bid received praise from The Sun, who said that she is the "only prayer they have". The Sun also praised her for saying 'the country comes first' in response to Andy Burnham who said 'the Party always comes first' in the Newsnight Labour leadership hustings.^[64] Commentators from across the political spectrum have said that Kendall is the leadership candidate that the Conservatives "fear the most".^[65][66][67]

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."^[58]

Dispute over election integrity