Sir Keir Starmer took a commanding early lead in the Labour leadership race today as he won the support of an influential trade union to replace Jeremy Corbyn.
The shadow business secretary, 57, was backed by Unison, which has 1.4million members, in a blow to the current party leadership’s favorite Rebecca Long Bailey.
It came as Sir Keir won the backing of 23 MPs after just a day of the official leadership race, which is enough to get him through to the next round already.
Unison backed Mr Corbyn for the leadership in 2015 but general secretary Dave Prentis today took a swipe at his disastrous election campaign – its worst performance for 85 years – as he revealed the trade union’s new endorsement.
Lashing out at the left-wing protest politics of some of the current Labour hierarchy, he said: ‘This is a pivotal time for Labour. We believe – if elected by the membership – Keir Starmer would be a leader to bring the party together and win back the trust of the thousands of voters who deserted Labour last month.
‘Unions created the Labour Party to give working people a voice in Westminster.
‘But it can only achieve for them, their families, their communities and the country’s public services when in government.’
The endorsement of a senior trade union is an important step for Sir Keir, the bookies’ favourite to succeed Mr Corbyn.
The shadow business secretary, 57, has won the backing of 23 MPs after just a day of the official leadership race, which is enough to get him through to the next round already.
As well as the support of MPs, under Labour rules he needs to win the votes of unions and other affiliated organisations to get through to the final ballot of party members.
The endorsement is also a soft power signal from the union to the party about the direction it wants the party to take in the future.
It also endorsed Angela Rayner in her bid to become deputy leader.
Sir Keir said he was ‘honoured’ by the endorsement, adding: ‘UNISON members represent some of the best of our movement and our country.’
Ms Long Bailey, has been nominated by just seven MPs so far, figures released by the party showed this morning.
Jess Phillips and Lisa Nandy were further back on six and two respectively, and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry was on just 1. Clive Lewis, the sixth leadership candidate, has yet to win the backing of a single MP.
But with 163 Labour MPs yet to give their nominations there is a lot to play for.
Mr Corbyn announced last month that he would quit as Labour leader after handing Boris Johnson an 80-seat majority at the December 12 election.
Under the terms of the contest, candidates need to secure the nominations of least 10 per cent of the party’s MPs and MEPs – which is now 22 after the general and European election defeats last year.
Those who succeed will then go forward to the second stage when they must win the nominations of five per cent of the almost 300 constituency Labour parties (CLPs) OR three Labour affiliates – of which at least two must be trade unions – comprising at least five per cent of the fully paid-up affiliate membership.
The successful candidates will then go into a vote of party members before the new leader is unveiled at the beginning of April.
Labour MPs blasted ‘boring’ Corbyn loyalist Ms Long Bailey after she made her opening leadership pitch to the parliamentary party last night, savaging her performance as ‘like watching paint dry’.
The shadow business secretary, seen as the current leadership’s choice to succeed Mr Corbyn in leading the party, joined her five rivals at a hustings in Parliament.
Six candidates (clockwise from top right: Ms Nandy, Ms Phillips, Sir Keir Starmer, Emily Thornberry, Clive Lewis and Ms Long Bailey) set out their stalls to fellow MPs
The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) has long been at odds with Mr Corbyn over his policies and attitude to Brexit and her speech on her vision for the future went down badly according to MPs in the room.
This was in contrast to rivals Jess Phillips and Lisa Nandy, who were applauded after calling for a change in political direction after the party’s disastrous general election which saw it reduced to just 202 MPs.
One left-wing MP said Ms Long Bailey was ‘boring; it was like watching paint dry’, according to the Guardian.
Rival Ms Nandy, the MP for Wigan, said the leadership debate was ‘possibly the most important in our history’.
‘Now is not the time to steady the ship. If we do not change course we will die and we will deserve to,’ she added.
The figures were revealed as candidates vying to be party’s deputy leader set out their stalls to MPs.
Among those in the race for the deputy post, triggered by Tom Watson’s decision to quit, are shadow sports minister Rosena Allin-Khan and Labour’s only MP in Scotland, Ian Murray.
Shadow cabinet ministers Angela Rayner, Dawn Butler and Richard Burgon, along with shadow Europe minister Khalid Mahmood, are also in the race for the job.