UK Labour Party elects Keir Starmer as leader

Agency Reporter

Lawyer and lawmaker Keir Starmer was elected leader of Britain’s main opposition Labour Party on Saturday by a decisive margin, after a contest thrown into turmoil by the coronavirus outbreak.

A special conference to announce the winner was scrapped when the nation went into lockdown, and the news came in a statement accompanied by a pre-recorded acceptance speech.

Starmer, 57, comes from Labour’s center-left wing, and his election marks a shift from the more strongly socialist course set by his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn.

Starmer acknowledged that he was becoming leader of the opposition “at a moment like none other in our lifetime” and promised to “engage constructively” with the Conservative government to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

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The party said Starmer won on the first round of voting with 56.2 per cent of all the votes cast, well ahead of rivals Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy. Angela Rayner was chosen as deputy leader in a vote of Labour’s half a million members.

A former UK chief prosecutor named after Labour Party co-founder Keir Hardie, Starmer faces the challenge of reuniting a party deeply divided over the policies and legacy of Corbyn, The outgoing leader was elected party chief in 2015 on a wave of grassroots enthusiasm, and took Labour sharply to the left, proposing the nationalisation of major industries and a huge increase in public spending.

Corbyn also faced allegations that he had allowed anti-Semitism to fester in the party. He is a long time supporter of the Palestinians and critic of Israel.

Starmer said “anti-Semitism has been a stain on our party.”

Labour has now been out of office for a decade that has brought the country three Conservative prime ministers – David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson.