Around 600,000 people start being sent ballots today in the Labour leadership contest.
The race runs for more than 40 days despite starting back in early January – and the winner will take office on April 4.
Either Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey or Keir Starmer will then replace Jeremy Corbyn immediately and be charged with cleaning up Labour’s worst election defeat since 1935.
Members, affiliates and registered supporters can begin casting their ballots today to choose the person to take the party forward against the Tories.
And many of them may well have signed and sealed their vote by the end of the week.
But thanks to the long timetable it’s not nearly over yet. So how do things work from here? We’ve put together a handy guide.
Who are the candidates?
Three are running for the top job – Sir Keir Starmer, Lisa Nandy and Rebecca Long-Bailey.
Emily Thornberry and Jess Phillips were both knocked out of the contest.
You can read more about them all here and their policies here.
In the deputy race, it’s Angela Rayner, Dawn Butler, Ian Murray, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan and Richard Burgon.
What has happened so far?
(Image: Ian Forsyth)
Firstly, they won the backing of at least 22 MPs or MEPs to make it into the second round. Five got through at that stage in the leadership race.
To make it to the third round they then had to win either 5% of Constituency Labour Parties (33 of them) or three affiliated organisations, mostly unions, representing 5% of affiliate members.
Starmer, Long-Bailey and Nandy all made it through. Jess Phillips didn’t come close despite a tour of Scottish CLPs and Emily Thornberry was knocked out by a whisker, with 31 out of 33.
Am I eligible to vote?
(Image: Ian Forsyth)
Three groups are eligible to vote.
First there’s party members, of which there are more than 580,000 – the most in decades.
Then there’s affiliate members, who get a vote by virtue of being part of an affiliated union or socialist society.
And then there are one-off “registered supporters”, 14,700 people who paid £25 apiece to get a vote in the contest.
If you’re in any of these three groups you have to have signed up already – it’s too late to join or register now to get a ballot. Labour has more info on whether you’re eligible here.
When will I get my ballot paper?
The ballot papers begin being emailed out on Monday, and those who have asked to vote in paper will have slips sent out to them in the post.
Both emails and paper slips are being sent in batches throughout the week of February 24 – because they’re being sent in stages they will take most of this week to arrive.
You should not phone Labour to query the whereabouts of your ballot paper yet.
Requests for papers to be reissued will only be allowed from Monday 2 March. It can take up to 10 days to receive a reissued ballot paper. Check your junk and spam folders to ensure it hasn’t gone there.
How and where do I vote for Labour leader?
The election, run by independent firm Civica, takes place by both email and post.
The default is email, in which you simply follow instructions to vote online.
Or if Labour don’t have an email address for you, you’ll get your ballot by post and should return it by post.
When filling in your ballot paper, don’t just choose one person – rank your preferences.
If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote straight away, the candidate with the least votes will be eliminated and their second preferences reassigned.
This carries on until one candidate has over 50% and is declared the winner. You’ll hear about the “first round” and “second round” but these are rounds of counting, not voting. There’s only one election with one ballot paper each.
What’s the deadline to vote?
(Image: Ian Forsyth)
All votes must be received by Labour before noon on Thursday 2 April. Send yours a reasonable time before to avoid any technical or postal errors.
Are there any more hustings dates?
Yes:
- Thursday 27 February – Sky News TV debate
- Saturday 29 February – Brighton hustings
- Sunday 8 March – Mirror hustings in Dudley
When will the new Labour leader be announced?
(Image: REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth)
A special conference will be held on April 4 for the announcement.
The winner and deputy will assume their roles immediately, leaving Mr Corbyn to return to the backbenches unless the winner wants him in their shadow cabinet.
Who are the favourites?
(Image: Ian Forsyth)
Sir Keir is the clear frontrunner in the leadership contest. He won more than double the amount of CLP support than second-placed Ms Long-Bailey and is the bookies’ favourite.
He also performed the strongest in winning the support of unions and affiliated socialist organisations.
Ms Rayner has been even more dominant in the deputy race despite the increased competition.
But there are still more than six weeks to go and that can be an age in politics, particularly if recent years are to go by.
What are their policies?
To some it’s hard to put a cigarette paper between their policies.
After all, all three back nationalising the railways. All three back the Board of Deputies pledges on anti-Semitism. All three pledge more power to the regions. And all three would scrap Universal Credit.
Scratch beneath the surface, however, and subtle differences appear.
Ms Long-Bailey has suggested she’d have Jeremy Corbyn in her top team; Sir Keir hasn’t.
While Rebecca Long Bailey would go for full-blown nationalisation of key industries, her two rivals lean more towards “common” or community ownership that stops short of a state buyout.
While Keir Starmer has pledged a return to free movement between the UK and EU, Rebecca Long-Bailey has suggested Labour may have to accept the reality that it’s finished and move on.
