With beaten Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn announcing that he wouldn’t be fighting another election, the market for the Next Labour leader has become more active. At the polls on Thursday, Labour had a disastrous day as the Conservatives swept their way to a commanding Majority win for PM Boris Johnson. That leaves Labour looking for a new face to front them.
Next Labour Leader Odds*
Keir Starmer 13/5
Rebecca Long-Bailey 3/1
Lisa Nandy 5/1
Angela Rayner 6/1
Jess Phillips 7/1
Emily Thornberry 14/1
Yvette Cooper 16/1
Clive Lewis 20/1
Dan Jarvis 25/1
David Miliband 28/1
50/1 bar
*(betting odds taken from December 14th, 2019 at 7:11 pm)
Starmer’s favouritism being challenged
It has long been perceived that when Corbyn was to step aside, a leading contender for the head of the Labour Party was Sir Keir Starmer. He has been in a prominent position as the shadow Brexit Secretary and among those Remainers in the party, he was seen to be a more favourable ally than Jeremy Corbyn was. After the Labour Party has drifted further left in the last few years, Keir would likely bring them back to more central ground. So that could shake things up and potentially be a sticking point for him getting enough backing. Will the party want such a big shake up?
Rebecca Long-Bailey takes further backing
While there has been so much focus on Starmer, there was some backing flocking towards shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey over the weekend. So much so that she has been nudged closer to the quote on Starmer. That was at 3/1 on her to succeed Corbyn*(betting odds taken from December 14th, 2019 at 7:11 pm). She has been a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn who had been very keen to throw into the spotlight and so Long-Bailey could have the support of Corby’s followers at a vote. There is still a lot of support within the Labour ranks for where Corbyn was going. A fresh face of Long-Bailey, but still taking on the existing project may check a lot of boxes for members.
More strong female candidates
Wigan MP Lisa Nandy was cut down to 5/1 with Bet365 on Saturday, with some bookmakers still leaving her hanging out around the 8/1 mark*(betting odds taken from December 14th, 2019 at 7:11 pm). She was a strong, vocal campaigner for the remaining option in the EU referendum. Nandy has argued that the Party has lost touch with the people that they are supposed to be representing.
Jess Phillips has been a strong critic of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership to the point that she has been called a “Blairite” a tag she does not necessarily vibe with. She is going to be seen as a candidate who would look to broaden the reach of the party, primarily to create more coalition opportunities and pulling in support from both working and middle class.
Angela Rayner is the shadow Education Secretary and like Long-Bailey was a very vocal part of Corbyn’s team. Rayner is the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne and has gained a decent profile. She is more of a moderate and could pull in from the base that Corbyn had. She closed out Saturday as the only other candidate besides the aforementioned ones, to be in single figures in the Next Labour Leader market.
