2015 Labour Party leadership election (UK)

The 2015 Labour Party leadership election was election to choose the leader of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom. It won by Jeremy Corbyn. The election was held because Ed Miliband resigned on 8 May 2015, after the party's defeat at the 2015 general election. Harriet Harman, the Deputy Leader, became Acting Leader but announced that she would resign after the leadership election.[1]

Labour Party leadership election, 2015
14 August – 12 September 2015 (2015-08-14 – 2015-09-12)
Turnout422,871
(76.3%)
 
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 (acting)
Ed Miliband (elected)

 Elected Leader

Jeremy Corbyn

Candidates

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. The results were announced on Saturday 12 September 2015. Voting was by Labour Party members and registered supporters. They voted using the alternative vote system.

Results

When Corbyn entered the election, he was considered unlikely to win.[2] However, support for him increased quickly. Opinion polls showed him leading against the other candidates. This led to warnings from people such as Gordon Brown,[3] Tony Blair,[4] Jack Straw,[5] David Miliband,[6] and Alastair Campbell.[7] Many of them claimed that Corbyn's election as leader would leave the party unable to win elections. Corbyn won the election in the first round, with 59.5% of the votes.

References
  1. Cathy Owen, General Election 2015: Harriet Harman announces that she will be standing down as deputy leader of the Labour Party Wales Online (8 May 2015).
  2. "Where is Labour's 'Jeremy Corbyn mania' coming from?". BBC News. 13 August 2015.
  3. "Labour leadership: Gordon Brown says party must be credible". BBC News.
  4. "Labour risks 'annihilation' if Jeremy Corbyn is leader – Tony Blair". BBC News. 13 August 2015.
  5. "Jack Straw joins the band of Blairites to warn against Labour swing to the left as success of Corbyn campaign continues". The Independent. London.
  6. Mason, Rowena. "David Miliband: electing Jeremy Corbyn risks creating one-party Tory state". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  7. "Alastair Campbell warns Labour against electing Jeremy Corbyn". BBC News. 11 August 2015.



This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.