On April 4th the Labour party will decide who will be their next party leader. With Corbyn stepping down from consideration, five candidates are set to campaign for the position. Read on to get to know them a little better!
Rebecca Long-Bailey
“The starting point in the leadership election is to be honest and self-critical about why and then look forward and forge our path to power… My vision is one of a democratic, aspirational and decarbonised society that hands wealth and power back to ordinary people. I believe we can build a green, democratic future that bridges the deep divides in our electoral coalition.”
> 2015-Present: MP for Salford and Eccles
> 2017-Present: Shadow Secretary for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
> 2016-2017: Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
> 2015-2016: Shadow Treasury minister
Endorsed by 33MPs including the likes of Diane Abbot (Shadow Home Secretary) and John McDonnell (Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer), Rebecca Long-Bailey could be considered Corbyn’s successor. She’s expected to gain the backing of the Momentum faction of the labour party. Her proposed policies are radical, including plans to abolish the House of Lords.
Lisa Nandy
“We must take power from Westminster and Whitehall and restore it to those places that feel they no longer have a stake in our national story. From working with child refugees and rough sleepers, to a decade in Parliament opposing free schools and tackling climate change as the Shadow Secretary of State – I know that Labour is at our best when we are bold…”
> 2010-Present: MP for Wigan
> 2015-2016: Shadow Energy Secretary
Although a backbencher and outsider, Lisa Nandy has 31 supporters. She’s a vocal critic of Corbyn and Labour’s handling of Brexit, slamming Corbyn’s weak stance on the matter and disapproving of Labour support for a second referendum. Nandy is passionate about the climate, proposing that “[the government should] refuse to agree any trade deal with a country that has not ratified the Paris Agreement.”
Jess Phillips
“After a decade of Tory austerity, people have got used to expecting less. We have to turn that round. We have to show that life can be better. And I want to lead a party where members have a real say on policy. Free childcare. Universal social care. A properly funded education system. Homelessness: a thing of the past. Hope instead of fear. Celebrating immigration and ending indefinite detention.”
> 2015-Present: MP for Birmingham Yardley
With no experience on the cabinet, Phillips is more of an outsider than Nandy (supported by only 23 MPs). But Phillips is outspoken on social media and widely discussed in publications because of her wit and no-nonsense attitude. As a relentless critic of Corbyn and a fiery feminist (she’s been accused of being a TERF, though she vehemently denies this), Phillips will lead a brave campaign for a more moderate labour party.
Keir Starmer
“We need to start winning elections again… We won’t do that by abandoning our values or the radicalism we have rediscovered. We are an anti-austerity party. We believe in common ownership. We want to build a more peaceful world through a human-rights based foreign policy. We must hardwire the Green New Deal into every part of our politics. Those are the pillars on which we can build a radical agenda for the future.”
> 2015-Present: MP for Holborn and St Pancras
> 2017-Present: Shadow Brexit Secretary
Starmer is the favourite, gaining the support of many influential MPs including Ed Miliband (ex-Party Leader), David Lammy (MP for Tottenham) and Yvette Cooper (MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) and 85 other MPs. As Shadow Brexit Secretary, Starmer has been on the front line, holding the Tories to account for a while now.
Emily Thornberry
“I believe I have the strength, experience and passion to take the fight back to the Tories now, and lead us on the long hard road to victory in five years… I’ve led the charge as Shadow Foreign Secretary against Trump and the war in Yemen and, for two years, shadowing Boris Johnson, I got the better of him every time. Our greatest strength lies not just in our party’s history, values, or achievements in government, but from the army of union members, CLPs and student activists who’ve inspired all of that, and continue inspiring it today.”
> 2005-Present: MP for Islington South and Finsbury
> 2017-Present: Shadow First Secretary of State.
> 2016-Present: Shadow Foreign Secretary
> 2016: Shadow Brexit Secretary
> 2016: Shadow Defense Secretary
> 2015-2016: Shadow Employment Minister
> 2011-2014: Shadow Attorney General
Clearly, experience is on Thornberry’s side, but her colleagues seem not to be (she only attained 23 nominations). As Foreign secretary she’s held Johnson to account in every way she can, so it must have been crushing to see him ascend to the premiership in spite of it all. Like many of the other candidates, she’s a vocal critic of Corbyn, particularly his handling of the anti-Semitism within the labour party.
2020 Labour Leadership Race: Meet the Candidates
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