DEPUTY LEADERSHIP

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: As an MP, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan still sometimes works shifts at the south London hospital where she worked as an accident and emergency doctor before being elected to represent Tooting in a 2016 by-election. Born to a Pakistani father and a Polish mother, Ms Allin-Khan said she “grew up in poverty” and was able to go to Lucy Cavendish College at Cambridge University to study medicine thanks to scholarships brought in under Labour. She styles herself as a unity candidate and her policies have a strong focus on the NHS.

Richard Burgon: Backed by John McDonnell and Diane Abbott, the Shadow Justice Secretary is perhaps the most ideologically aligned to Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of any of the candidates in the leadership contests. He studied English Literature at St John’s College, Cambridge, and later became an employment lawyer. He became the MP for Leeds East in 2015 and was appointed as a Junior Minister. In his manifesto, he promised to be a “campaigning deputy leader” and is seen as a continuity candidate for the current Labour leadership.

Dawn Butler: Born in east London to Jamaican immigrant parents, Dawn Butler worked for the GMB union after school and was an employment and social issues advisor to former London mayor Ken Livingstone. She was first elected as MP for Brent South in 2005 and served as a Junior Minister in the Cabinet Office under Gordon Brown. In her pitch to be deputy leader, she said a more united party would have won the 2017 General Election and urged discipline amongst parliamentary colleagues and not to go against the leadership.

Ian Murray: The Labour MP for Edinburgh South since 2010, from 2015 to 2017 and since December last year, Ian Murray has had the dubious honour of being the party’s only Scottish MP following landslide SNP victories in 2015 and 2019. He studied social policy and law at Edinburgh University before going on to work in business. He has received the backing of two former Labour Prime Ministers, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and is the most centrist candidate in the race. His manifesto urges Labour to become a “government of the future, not a protest movement of the past”.

Angela Rayner: The frontrunner throughout the campaign, having received the most nominations from MPs, constituency Labour parties and trade unions, Angela Rayner describes herself as a “socialist, not a Corbynite”. Her career began when she became a trade union representative for Unison while working as a care worker. Her manifesto states “Labour exists to win power” and sets out some of her priorities to help see the party back in power. She credits New Labour’s Sure Start centres with helping to turn her life around.