Starmer on the brink: How a Labour leadership contest would work

Keir Starmer's time in Downing Street appears to be teetering on the edge as MPs turn against the British Prime Minister. Less than two years after he returned Labour to power in a landslide victory following a decade of Conservative rule, the party appears determined to have a new person at the helm. A Labour leadership contest can only take place if the leader resigns or if 20 per cent of MPs nominate a challenger. A contender therefore currently requires the backing of 81 of the 403 Labour MPs. That means that, theoretically, five people could stand. While it is still possible that Mr Starmer will bow to the pressure from his MPs and resign, on Monday he vowed to fight on. He told his Cabinet that a leadership challenge “has not been triggered” and “the country expects us to get on with governing”. Unlike the Conservative Party, there is no mechanism for the challenge to take place in private through a vote of no confidence with private letters submitted to a senior MP. Health Secretary Wes Streeting is seen as a potential leadership challenger. EPA Info Who are the contenders? The most popular candidate to replace Mr Starmer, Manchester's mayor Andy Burnham, is not in parliament and the rules stipulate only a sitting MP can be nominated. Therefore, his supporters hope Labour would delay any leadership contest to allow time for one of its MPs in a safe seat to resign. This would trigger a by-election, which Mr Burnham would hope to win, although this it is not guaranteed in the current political climate. If Mr Burnham was elected as an MP, then he too would need the nomination of 81 members to stand for the leadership. Anyone else? Like other contenders, he would need to also be nominated by at least five per cent of constituency parties or at least three affiliates, such as trade unions, co-operatives and socialist societies. Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister who was forced to resign over her tax affairs, and Health Secretary Wes Streeting are the other likely contenders. Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham. Getty Info What's the timescale? There is no set time period for an election process, but it is estimated at three to six weeks, during which candidates are likely to conduct hustings and debates. Who chooses the leader? In the election, Labour MPs and party members, estimated at fewer than 250,000, each have one vote under the alternative vote system, where they list their preferences from first to last. If one candidate receives more than 50 per cent of the vote, they are elected. If that is not achieved in the first round – Mr Starmer secured 56 per cent of the first-round vote in 2020 – then the candidate who came last is removed and their votes are redistributed to voters’ second preferences. The process continues until one candidate has more than half of the votes. Two weeks before the start of an election, the nominated candidates must inform Labour party general secretary Hollie Ridley of their acceptance otherwise their bid is deemed void. Unprecedented challenge? Labour first held leadership elections in 1922 and since then, three sitting party leaders have been challenged on four occasions: Hugh Gaitskell in 1960 and 1961, Neil Kinnock in 1988 and Jeremy Corbyn in 2016. But a Labour prime minister has never faced a leadership election while in office.