Keir Starmer is new leader of Britain’s Labour Party, replacing Jeremy Corbyn
- Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, won with 56.2 per cent of the vote by party members and supporters
- Corbyn agreed to step down after Labour lost 59 seats in the election, handing PM Boris Johnson’s Conservatives a big parliamentary majority
Britain’s main opposition Labour Party on Saturday elected former human rights lawyer Keir Starmer as its new leader, after a contest thrown into turmoil by the coronavirus outbreak.
A special conference to announce the winner was scrapped, and the news came on Saturday in a press release accompanied by a pre-recorded acceptance speech.
He won with 56.2 per cent of the vote by Labour’s 500,000 members and supporters. Angela Rayner was voted as deputy leader.
“It is the honour and the privilege of my life to be elected as leader of the Labour Party. It comes at a moment like none other in our lifetime,” Starmer said.
“Under my leadership, we will engage constructively with the government, not opposition for opposition’s sake. Not scoring party political points or making impossible demands. But with the courage to support where that’s the right thing to do.
