FIGHTBACK STARTS KEIR

Starmer set to be named new leader He faces massive challenge to get party back on feet

KEIR Starmer is the 100-1 odds-on favourite to be named the new leader of the Labour Party today.

The Shadow Brexit Secretary, Lisa Nandy and Rebecca LongBailey have all been asked to pre-record victory speeches in the event they win, with the victor having theirs released when the result is revealed this morning.

But Starmer, who has been ahead of the pack since Jeremy Corbyn announced he was stepping down in the wake of Labour’s disastrous result in December’s general election, is widely expected to top the ballot.

In the race to be deputy leader, which was sparked after Tom Watson stood down as an MP, Angela Rayner is the favourite to win against Dawn Butler, Ian Murray, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan and Richard Burgon.

The ballot opened on February 21, with voting papers sent out to party members, those from affiliated trade unions and groups, and 14,700 “registered supporters” who paid £25 to take part on a one-off basis.

Because of the coronavirus crisis, the winners will no longer be unveiled at a “special conference”, as originally planned, but via a virtual announcement.

Starmer tweeted at the close of the ballot, thanking his two rivals for showing “positivity and unity” during the contest.

Nandy also tweeted a video thanking her supporters. She said efforts to reconnect with voters who had deserted Labour at the last election showed the party could “win again”.

The winners will assume their roles immediately, leaving Corbyn to return to the backbenches unless the new leader wants him in their shadow cabinet.

The left-winger, 70, who announced he was quitting after leading the party to its worst showing since the 1930s in the December election, yesterday insisted that he had put Labour in a position to win.

Corbyn told supporters his leadership had “changed the agenda on austerity” and that only Brexit had prevented Labour from winning power.

In his farewell post on Facebook, he said: “Over the past five years, we have changed the agenda on austerity and how the economy is run. In 2015, opposing austerity was seen as radical – today it is the political mainstream.

“Of course, we could have achieved so much in government, and I am sorry that under my leadership we did not get there.

“In 2017 we came close, winning the biggest increase in the popular vote since 1945.

“Sadly, the 2019 election was a Brexit election and our attempt to bridge the gap between Leave and Remain voters was unsuccessful.”