Politics

Keir Starmer clear favourite as candidates prepare for leadership battle

Keir Starmer is clear favourite to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader with the bookmakers.

The shadow Brexit secretary announced his intention to run for the position this weekend, saying he will aim to “restore trust in the party” and “not lose sight of our values or retreat from the radicalism of the past few years”.

His impressive CV has already caught the eyes of voters, boasting an impressive record on human rights and a Knightood for his pro bono work.

A recent YouGov survey of Labour members showed that he would comfortably beat left winger Rebecca Long-Bailey, 61 per cent to 39 per cent in a run off, if the MP for Salford and Eccles decides to run.

He has been priced at 10/11 to win as a result, with Long-Bailey at 7/2.

Other contenders

Other contenders including Lisa Nandy (10/1), Jess Phillips (16/1) and Ian Lavery (35/1) also stand an outside chance of taking the job.

Clive Lewis (49/1) and Emily Thornberry (79/1) are less well favoured on the markets.

Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee today released the campaign timetable for the election of Jeremy Corbyn’s successor.

Nominations from MPs and MEPs will have to be in before 13th January, before voting gets underway from 21st February.

The result will be revealed on 4th April.

Expect the odds to move

Betfair spokesperson, Katie Baylis said: “With the Labour party today confirming the timetable for the election of a new leader, it’s Keir Starmer who punters on Betfair Exchange see as the frontrunner and he’s odds-on at 10/11 with his odds shortening from 2/1 last week.

“Rebecca Long-Bailey is the 7/2 second favourite, followed by Lisa Nandy at 10/1 and Jess Philips at 16/1 with the four seen as the frontrunners at this stage of the race.

“With three months of campaigning to play out we expect these odds to move around a lot as the leading candidates make their play for the leadership and the responsibility of turning around their disastrous election result of a month ago.”

Related: Labour must ‘win or die’, Angela Rayner says as she backs Long-Bailey for leader

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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