Keir Starmer has been picked as the new Labour leader by an overwhelming margin, heralding a fresh chapter in the party’s history after five years under Jeremy Corbyn.
Britain’s main opposition party moved sharply to the left under the leadership of Mr Corbyn, who — despite a strong showing in 2017 — led the party to its worst election defeat for 80 years in December.
Sir Keir, a former human rights lawyer and director of public prosecutions, won with 56 per cent of the vote. Rebecca Long Bailey, who was seen as the Corbyn continuity candidate, picked up 28 per cent of the vote, while Lisa Nandy got 16 per cent.
Angela Rayner, shadow education secretary, won the race to be deputy leader with 53 per cent.
Although Sir Keir has signalled that he will keep many of Mr Corbyn’s leftwing policies, his election will be hailed by centrist MPs as a fresh start.
The party slumped to just 202 seats in December’s general election, meaning it would need to gain over 120 to form a majority government.
In his victory speech Sir Keir admitted the party had a mountain to climb.
“But we will climb it, and I will do my utmost to reconnect us across the country, to re-engage with our communities and voters, to establish a coalition across our towns and our cities and our regions with all creeds and communities to speak for the whole of the country.”
The new leader said it was the “honour and privilege of my life” to be elected by the party’s vast membership of more than half a million people. “It comes at a moment like none other in our lifetime.”
Sir Keir was shadow Brexit secretary for the last four years and was responsible for gradually shifting the party’s position towards endorsing a second referendum on EU membership. Critics blame him for many of Labour’s defeats in December’s election — the vast majority of losses were in Leave-voting areas.
The new leader is expected to pick his shadow cabinet in the coming days, providing clues as to where he wants to take the party.
Allies of Sir Keir told the Financial Times that he is almost certain to give the job of shadow chancellor to Anneliese Dodds, a junior shadow Treasury minister who entered Parliament in 2015. Before that she was an academic and an MEP.
Supporters believe that Sir Keir will be effective in holding the government to account during the current pandemic — and beyond — given his grasp of detail.
Ahead of the result on Saturday, prime minister Boris Johnson wrote to opposition leaders urging them to work closely with the government to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak.
Sir Keir said in his speech that he would work “constructively” with the government and not engage in “opposition for opposition’s sake”.
But he added: “Where we see mistakes or faltering government or things not happening as quickly as they should we’ll challenge that and call that out.”
Sir Keir was one of four children. His father was a toolmaker and his mother a nurse. He went to school at Reigate grammar school and Oxford university before becoming a barrister at Doughty Street chambers where he took on human rights cases. He later advised the Northern Ireland Policing Board.
From 2008 to 2013 he was director of public prosecutions. He has a knighthood but does not like to use the title.
In 2015 he was elected MP for Holborn & St Pancras, meaning he arrived in parliament without the baggage of the Blair-Brown era.
He did not initially back Jeremy Corbyn to lead the party, but he agreed to serve in 2015 as shadow Home Office minister.
Sir Keir joined in the attempt by Labour MPs to remove Mr Corbyn in June 2016. When the coup failed Sir Keir cancelled his resignation and re-emerged on Labour’s front bench as shadow Brexit secretary.
While he served under Mr Corbyn loyally for the last four years, the leader’s office was suspicious of his long-term ambitions. “It was never any secret that he wasn’t really one of us,” said one former aide.
