Labour members abandon Corbynism with more than HALF of CLPs which endorsed outgoing leader in 2015 switching to endorse moderate Keir Starmer in 2020 instead of left-wing choice Rebecca Long-Bailey
- Half of Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) which backed Corbyn in 2015 and 2016 have endorsed Sir Keir Starmer in 2020.
- Sir Keir has picked up 87 CLPs which backed Corbyn in 2015 and 142 from 2016
- Rebecca Long-bailey was endorsed by 51 from 2015 and 103 from 2016
- Comes ahead of the opening of final round voting on Monday next week
Labour Party members appear to be abandoning the politics of Jeremy Corbyn in favour of a more moderate leader, a new analysis suggested today.
More than half of Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) which backed Mr Corbyn in the leadership contest in 2015 have endorsed soft-left candidate Sir Keir Starmer this year.
And half of those who backed Mr Corbyn in the 2016 run-off against Owen Smith are also supporting the shadow Brexit secretary.
The numbers suggest he warrants his position as the bookies’ favourite to take over, but they will be a blow to Rebecca Long-Bailey, who is being backed by Mr Corbyn’s top team and hardline campaign group Momentum.
Ms Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, has praised the outgoing leader despite the massive election failure, rating his tenure as 10/10 and suggesting he could have a place in her shadow cabinet.
Although not all Labour Party members have to be a member of a CLP and all can vote independently, the figures suggest the party could be ready for a less divisive and softer centre-left leader.
The numbers suggest Sir Keir (left) warrants his position as the bookies’ favourite to take over from Jeremy Corbyn, but they will be a blow to Rebecca Long-Bailey (right)
Analysis of CLP endorsements by the @CLPNominations account, seen by Mailonline, shows that 87 which endorsed Mr Corbyn in 2015 have backed Sir Keir in 2020, compared to 51 for Ms Long-Bailey.
That leadership election saw Mr Corbyn win 153 CLP endorsements on his way to being elected party leader.
The figure was higher than for any of his challengers – Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, and Liz Kendall.
In 2016 the leadership battle was simply between Mr Corbyn and challenger Owen Smith.
Of the endorsements in that election, 142 of the 285 which backed Mr Corbyn have switched to Sir Keir, with 103 falling in behind Ms Long-Bailey.
It came as Ms Long-Bailey declined to pick a favourite former leader of the Labour Party as she attempted to put some ground between herself and Mr Corbyn.
The shadow business secretary – who gave Mr Corbyn a ten out of ten rating for his leadership after he led the party to its worst election results since the 1930s – proclaimed: ‘There is no such thing as Corbynism.’
The challengers were also asked to name their favourite Labour leader from the last 50 years.
Lisa Nandy picked veteran Labour MP Barbara Castle and described her as the best leader Labour never had while Sir Keir opted for Harold Wilson who was PM in the 1960s and 1970s.
But Ms Long-Bailey declined to choose anyone. None of the trio mentioned Tony Blair, Labour’s most electorally successful leader, or Mr Corbyn.