Keir Starmer voted new leader of Labour Party

Sir Keir Starmer has been elected the new leader of the Labour party in an email vote of party members, trade unionists and registered supporters.

He won by an easy 56.2 per cent of the vote over his rivals Rebecca Long-Bailey with 27.6 per cent and Lisa Nandy with 16.2 per cent. A public event to announce the new Labour leader was dropped because of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Starmer was elected as member of parliament for the London constituency of Holborn and St Pancras in 2015. Before that Stamer, a lawyer, led the crown prosecution service. 

The Labour Party has been effectively leaderless since Jeremy Corbyn said he would step down as leader after the disastrous vote for the Labour Party in the general election last December. Starmer was part of the Corbyn top team and responsible for Labour's Brexit policy. He defines himself as a socialist rather than a Corbynite but says he will keep some of Corbyn's policies such as the re-nationalisation of the railways, the postal and water services.

His first task will be to tackle the coronavirus emergency. He has said that he will work constructively with the government and not follow a "policy of opposition for opposition's sake" but he has also said that he will hold the government, led by Boris Johnson, to account on critical issues and when "things are not happening as quickly as they should be." One of his urgent jobs will also be to unite the Labour party once again into a strong and credible opposition.

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