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2015 Labour Party deputy leadership election

{{Short description|British Labour Party deputy leadership election}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}

{{Infobox election

|election_name = 2015 Labour Party deputy leadership election

|country =

|flag_image =

|type = presidential

|ongoing = no

|previous_election = 2007 Labour Party deputy leadership election

|previous_year = 2007

|next_election = 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election

|next_year = 2020

|election_date = {{start and end dates|2015|8|14|2015|9|12|df=yes}}

|1blank = First pref.

|2blank = Final round

|image1 = Official portrait of Tom Watson crop 2.jpg

|image1_size = 150x150px

|candidate1 = Tom Watson

|colour1 =

|1data1 = 160,852 (39.4%)

|2data1 = 198,962 (50.7%)

|image2 = Stella Creasy - MP - 2017.jpg

|image2_size = 150x150px

|candidate2 = Stella Creasy

|colour2 =

|1data2 = 78,100 (19.1%)

|2data2 = 103,746 (26.4%)

|image3 = Official portrait of Caroline Flint crop 2.jpg

|image3_size = 150x150px

|candidate3 = Caroline Flint

|colour3 =

|1data3 = 64,425 (15.8%)

|2data3 =89,538 (22.8%)

|image4 = Official portrait of Ms Angela Eagle.jpg

|image4_size = 150x150px

|candidate4 = Angela Eagle

|colour4 = 0

|1data4 = 66,013 (16.2%)

|2data4 = —

|image5 = Official portrait of Mr Ben Bradshaw crop 2.jpg

|image5_size = 150x150px

|candidate5 = Ben Bradshaw

|colour5 =

|1data5 = 39,080 (9.6%)

|2data5 = —

|title = Deputy Leader

|before_election = Harriet Harman

|after_election = Tom Watson

}}

The 2015 Labour Party deputy leadership election was triggered on 8 May 2015 by the resignation of Harriet Harman as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party of the United Kingdom following the party's defeat at the 2015 General Election. Harman, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, became Acting Leader following Leader Ed Miliband's resignation. Harman announced on the same day that she would step down as Deputy Leader, with her resignation taking effect when the new Leader and Deputy Leader are elected.{{cite news|author=Cathy Owen|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/general-election-2015-harriet-harman-9216220|title=General Election 2015: Harriet Harman announces that she will be standing down as deputy leader of the Labour Party|work=Wales Online|date=8 May 2015|publisher=Media Wales}}

Five candidates were successfully nominated to stand in the deputy leadership election: Ben Bradshaw, Stella Creasy, Angela Eagle, Caroline Flint, and Tom Watson. The voting process began on Friday 14 August 2015 and closed on Thursday 10 September 2015, with the results being announced on Saturday 12 September 2015. Voting was by Labour Party members and registered and affiliated supporters, using the alternative vote system.

Tom Watson was elected deputy leader with 50.7% of the vote on the third ballot.{{cite web |url=http://www.labour.org.uk/blog/entry/results-of-the-labour-leadership-and-deputy-leadership-election |title=Results of the Labour Leadership elections |access-date=13 September 2015|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721231632/http://www.labour.org.uk/blog/entry/results-of-the-labour-leadership-and-deputy-leadership-election |archive-date=21 July 2016 |df=dmy-all|date=12 September 2015 }}{{cite news|date=12 September 2015|last1=Wilkinson|first1=Michael|title=Jeremy Corbyn set to win Labour leadership election – live results coverage|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/11860227/labour-leadership-election-results.html|work=The Telegraph|access-date=12 September 2015}} Coterminous with the deputy leadership election, in the 2015 Labour Party leadership election, Jeremy Corbyn was elected as leader.

Procedure

The leadership election, triggered by Harman's resignation, took place under the reformed rules adopted from the proposals of the February 2014 Collins Report, which was led by Ray Collins.Ray Collins, [http://action.labour.org.uk/page/-/Collins_Report_Party_Reform.pdf Building a One Nation Labour Party: The Collins Review into Labour Party Reform] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518102414/http://action.labour.org.uk/page/-/Collins_Report_Party_Reform.pdf |date=18 May 2015 }} Labour Party, February 2014 The plan entailed a shorter election than the one that took place in 2010, with a new deputy leader in place before Labour's party conference in September 2015.{{cite web |url=http://labourlist.org/2015/05/how-will-the-leadership-election-work/ |title=How will the leadership election work? |last=Pope |first=Conor |date=8 May 2015 |work=LabourList |access-date=8 May 2015}}

The review changed the way in which Labour elects leaders. Under the former system, a three-way electoral college chose the leader, with one-third weight given to the votes of the Parliamentary Labour Party (i.e. Labour members of the House of Commons) and Labour members of the European Parliament; one-third to individual Labour Party members, and one third to the trade union and affiliated societies sections. Ed Miliband famously won following a large victory in the third of these colleges.

Following the Collins review, this system was replaced by a "one member, one vote" (OMOV) system. Candidates were elected by members and registered and affiliated supporters, who all received a maximum of one vote. This meant that, for example, members of Labour-affiliated trade unions needed to register as Labour supporters in order to vote.

In order to stand, candidates needed to have been nominated by at least 15% of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) – 35 MPs. The vote, as in previous elections, was held by the alternative vote (instant-runoff) system. The leadership election was held under the same rules.

A meeting of Labour's National Executive Committee took place on 13 May 2015 to set a timetable and procedure for the two elections.{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32714809|title=Labour leadership: Cooper and Burnham bids ahead of September election|date= 13 May 2015|access-date= 13 May 2015|work=BBC News}}

  • Tuesday 9 June 2015 – Nominations open
  • Monday 15 June 2015 (12:00) – Nominations for the Leader close
  • Wednesday 17 June 2015 (12:00) – Nominations for the Deputy Leader close
  • Wednesday 17 June 2015 (12:00) – Hustings period open
  • Friday 31 July 2015 (12:00) – Supporting nominations close
  • Wednesday 12 August 2015 (12:00) – Last date to join as member, affiliated support or registered supporter and be able to vote
  • Friday 14 August 2015 – Ballot papers sent out
  • Thursday 10 September 2015 (12:00) – Ballot closes
  • Saturday 12 September 2015 – Special Conference announce the results

Candidates for Deputy Leader

=Declared=

=Withdrawn=

  • John Healey, former Shadow Secretary of State for Health, former Minister of State for Housing and Planning and MP for Wentworth and Dearne{{cite web|url=http://labourlist.org/2015/06/john-healey-withdraws-from-deputy-leadership-race/|title=John Healey withdraws from deputy leadership race|work= LabourList|date=11 June 2015}}
  • Rushanara Ali, former Shadow Minister for Education and MP for Bethnal Green and Bow{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jun/17/rushanara-ali-pulls-out-labour-deputy-leadership-contest|title=Rushanara Ali pulls out of Labour deputy leadership contest|date=17 June 2015|work=The Guardian|author=Frances Perraudin|publisher=Guardian News and Media|access-date=3 January 2020}}

=Declined=

Flint was viewed as a Blairite, while Watson was viewed as having close links to the trade unions. One party source was anonymously quoted in the Financial Times as comparing a potential contest between Flint and Watson to the hotly contested 1981 deputy leadership election between Denis Healey and the leftist Tony Benn.{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/43654394-f58a-11e4-8c83-00144feab7de.html#axzz3ZbNFPrzb|title=General election: Battle for Labour's soul|last=Pickard|first=Jim|date=8 May 2015|access-date=8 May 2015}} {{subscription required}}

MP nominations for candidates

To be placed on the ballot, candidates for deputy leader must have obtained the nominations of 35 MPs. The number of MPs next to the candidate's name includes the actual candidate too, as they can count as one of the 35 MPs needed. Members with bold numbers succeeded to get the 35 nominations needed to make the ballot. Nominations for candidates by MPs were:[http://www.labour.org.uk/index.php/leadership Labour’s leadership contest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703143348/http://www.labour.org.uk/index.php/leadership |date=3 July 2015 }}, Labour Party, 9 June 2015

Before dropping out of the race on 17 June, Rushanara Ali had the following 24 nominations: Roberta Blackman-Woods, Paul Blomfield, Lyn Brown, Dawn Butler, Julie Cooper, Jeremy Corbyn, Clive Efford, Fabian Hamilton, Helen Hayes, Tristram Hunt, Rupa Huq, Sadiq Khan, Seema Malhotra, John Mann, John McDonnell, Chi Onwurah, Teresa Pearce, Matthew Pennycook, Yasmin Qureshi, Dennis Skinner, Andy Slaughter, Keir Starmer, Chuka Umunna

Before dropping out of the race on 11 June, John Healey had the following 20 nominations: Sarah Champion, Clive Efford, Holly Lynch, Kevin Barron, Andy Slaughter, Clive Betts, Ruth Cadbury, Simon Danczuk, Louise Ellman, Fabian Hamilton, Harry Harpham, Madeleine Moon, Paula Sherriff, Derek Twigg, Paul Blomfield, Ivan Lewis, Gordon Marsden, Chris Leslie, Teresa Pearce[http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/06/list-mps-endorsements-labour-deputy-leadership-candidates-0 New Statesman] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150612020204/http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/06/list-mps-endorsements-labour-deputy-leadership-candidates-0 |date=12 June 2015 }} 9 June 2015

Opinion polling

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%"
colspan="4"| YouGov/The Times,{{cite web|author=Peter Kellner|url=https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/07/22/comment-corbyn-ahead-labours-leadership-contest/|title=Comment: Corbyn takes early lead in Labour leadership race|work=YouGov|date=22 July 2015|access-date=8 August 2017}} 17–21 July 2015,
1,054 eligible voters{{efn|name=LabourLeadershipVoters|Labour Party members, registered supporters and signed up trade unionists who are eligible to vote in the leadership election}}
style="width:120px;"|Candidate

! style="width:50px;"| First
Round

! style="width:50px;"| Second Round

! style="width:50px;| Third
Round

|Tom Watson

| {{Party shading/Labour}}| 41%

| {{Party shading/Labour}}| 46%

| {{Party shading/Labour}}| 50%

|Stella Creasy

| style="text-align:center;"| 21%

| style="text-align:center;"| 22%

| style="text-align:center; width:50px;"| 26%

|Caroline Flint

| style="text-align:center;"| 17%

| style="text-align:center;"| 19%

| style="text-align:center; width:50px;"| 23%

|Ben Bradshaw

| style="text-align:center;"| 11%

| style="text-align:center;"| 13%

| style="text-align:center; width:50px;"| —

|Angela Eagle

| style="text-align:center;"| 10%

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| style="text-align:center; width:50px;"| —

{{notelist}}

Result

class=wikitable style="font-size:95%;"

|+ First round

colspan="2" scope="col" rowspan="2" width="125" | Candidate

! scope="col" colspan="2" width="150"| Party members

! scope="col" colspan="2" width="150" | Registered supporters

! scope="col" colspan="2" width="150"| Affiliated supporters

! scope="col" colspan="3" width="75"| Total

Votes

! %

! Votes

! %

! Votes

! %

! scope="col" colspan="2"| Votes

! %

align="right"

| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| scope="row" align="left" | Tom Watson

| 90,018

| 37.5

| 43,729

| 43.7

| 27,105

| 39.6

| 160,852

| align=center | {{percentage bar|39.4

DC241f}}

| 39.4

align="right"

| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| scope="row" align="left"| Stella Creasy

| 47,372

| 19.7

| 22,465

| 22.5

| 8,263

| 12.1

| 78,100

| align=center | {{percentage bar|19.1

DC241f}}

| 19.1

align="right"

| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| scope="row" align="left"| Angela Eagle

| 36,321

| 15.1

| 15,676

| 15.7

| 14,016

| 20.5

| 66,013

| align=center | {{percentage bar|16.2

DC241f}}

| 16.2

align="right"

| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| scope="row" align="left"| Caroline Flint

| 41,504

| 17.3

| 11,282

| 11.3

| 11,639

| 17.0

| 64,425

| align=center | {{percentage bar|15.8

DC241f}}

| 15.8

align="right"

| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| scope="row" align="left"| Ben Bradshaw

| 24,738

| 10.3

| 6,839

| 6.8

| 7,503

| 10.9

| 39,080

| align=center | {{percentage bar|9.6

DC241f}}

| 9.6

class=wikitable style="font-size:95%;"

|+ Second round

colspan="2" scope="col" rowspan="2" width="125" | Candidate

! scope="col" colspan="2" width="150"| Party members

! scope="col" colspan="2" width="150" | Registered supporters

! scope="col" colspan="2" width="150"| Affiliated supporters

! scope="col" colspan="3" width="75"| Total

Votes

! %

! Votes

! %

! Votes

! %

! scope="col" colspan="2"| Votes

! %

align="right"

| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| scope="row" align="left" | Tom Watson

| 96,008

| 40.4

| 45,329

| 45.9

| 29,252

| 43.2

| 170,589

| align=center | {{percentage bar|42.2

DC241f}}

| 42.2

align="right"

| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| scope="row" align="left"| Stella Creasy

| 52,866

| 22.2

|23,959

| 24.2

| 9,730

| 14.4

| 86,555

| align=center | {{percentage bar|21.4

DC241f}}

| 21.4

align="right"

| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| scope="row" align="left"| Caroline Flint

| 48,208

| 20.3

|12,948

| 13.1

| 13,425

| 19.8

| 74,581

| align=center | {{percentage bar|18.4

DC241f}}

| 18.4

align="right"

| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| scope="row" align="left"| Angela Eagle

| 40,559

| 17.1

|16,583

| 16.8

| 15,375

| 22.7

| 72,517

| align=center | {{percentage bar|17.9

DC241f}}

| 17.9

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

|+ Third round

colspan="2" scope="col" rowspan="2" width="125" | Candidate

! scope="col" colspan="2" width="150"| Party members

! scope="col" colspan="2" width="150" | Registered supporters

! scope="col" colspan="2" width="150"| Affiliated supporters

! scope="col" colspan="3" width="75"| Total

Votes

! %

! Votes

! %

! Votes

! %

! scope="col" colspan="2"| Votes

! %

align="right"

| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| scope="row" align="left" | Tom Watson {{Y}}

| 111,465

| 48.1

| 51,815

| 54.5

| 35,682

| 54.5

| 198,962

| align=center | {{percentage bar|50.7

DC241f}}

| 50.7

align="right"

| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| scope="row" align="left"| Stella Creasy

| 62,875

| 27.1

| 27,874

| 29.3

| 12,997

| 19.8

| 103,746

| align=center | {{percentage bar|26.4

DC241f}}

| 26.4

align="right"

| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| scope="row" align="left"| Caroline Flint

| 57,305

| 24.7

| 15,434

| 16.2

| 16,799

| 25.7

| 89,538

| align=center | {{percentage bar|22.8

DC241f}}

| 22.8

Source:

See also

References

{{reflist|2}}

{{Labour Party deputy leadership election, 2015|state=expanded}}

{{UK Labour Party}}

{{2015 United Kingdom party elections|state=collapsed}}

Labour Party deputy leadership

2015

Labour Party deputy leadership election

Labour Party deputy leadership election

Labour Party deputy leadership election