Sir Keir Starmer has today been named leader of the Labour Party after a landslide victory in the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn.

The MP is set to unveil his shadow cabinet by the end of the weekend after winning 56% of the vote - more than twice the backing of "continuity socialist" Rebecca Long-Bailey.

With almost half a million votes cast, Ms Long-Bailey won just 28% while third-placed Lisa Nandy won 16%.

Angela Rayner, who left school pregnant at 16 before rising to Shadow Education Secretary, was named deputy leader with 53% in the third round.

A&E doctor Rosena Allin-Khan beat Corbynista Richard Burgon to win second place in the deputy race.

Sir Keir - seen by many Tory MPs as the Labour leader they fear the most - won over Labour members' hearts and minds with the claim "another future is possible".

Scroll down to read Keir Starmer's acceptance statement in full

(Image: Daily Mirror/Andy Stenning)

And today he signalled a major break from the combative style of Jeremy Corbyn's left-wing leadership.

The new leader phoned Boris Johnson within 90 minutes of taking office and agreed to meet the PM to work together on fighting the coronavirus.

In a powerful acceptance speech, he added: "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."

Sir Keir won an astonishing 79% of the one-off "registered supporters" who signed up for a vote - a reversal of the influx of the left for Jeremy Corbyn in 2015.

Meanwhile his backers dealt a blow to the left slate's power base by seizing back key positions on Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC).

Johanna Baxter, Gurinder Singh Josan and Carol Sewell all won elections today to the powerful body - which sets party rules on everything from anti-Semitism to selecting candidates for election.

Sir Keir's address - on video rather than in person - was forced into a poignant tone by the death and devastation wreaked by the coronavirus.

Pledging to help key workers like NHS staff, Sir Keir said: "We cannot go back to business as usual. This virus has exposed the fragility of our society. It's lifted a curtain.

"We can see so clearly now who the key workers really are.

(Image: Peter Summers)

"When we get through this it'll be because of our NHS staff, our care workers, our ambulance drivers, our emergency services, our cleaners, our porters.

"It will be because of the hard work and bravery of every key worker as they took on this virus and kept our country going.

"For too long they've been taken for granted and poorly paid. They were last and now they should be first."

Sir Keir paid tribute to Jeremy Corbyn but warned "we have to face the future with honesty" - and vowed to drain the "poison" of anti-Semitism in Labour.

In his video message he declared: "We've got a mountain to climb. But we will climb it."

Delighted campaign manager Jenny Chapman - ousted as Darlington's MP in December - tweeted: "Stormed it."

But pro-Corbyn group Momentum warned it will now "hold Keir to account and make sure he keeps his promises" - signalling a major battle to come with factions on the left.

The ex-Director of Public Prosecutions - who trod a careful line between rival Labour wings during the campaign - became an MP just four months before Mr Corbyn took power in 2015.

But today he is named Leader of the Opposition after a seismic rise to Shadow Brexit Secretary - and a three-month campaign drowned out by family tragedy and coronavirus.

(Image: Getty Images)

He is expected to announce his shadow cabinet by the end of this weekend with rising stars Lou Haigh, Anneliese Dodds and Jim McMahon tipped for top jobs.

All eyes will be on the new leader's pick for Shadow Chancellor. Ed Miliband-era shadow minister Rachel Reeves is among many rumoured to make a return, but allies of Sir Keir have remained tight-lipped.

Jeremy Corbyn is expected to return to the back benches after Sir Keir refused to say if he'd have the former leader in his shadow cabinet.

Today's result arrived late after Labour's website crashed. Sir Keir won on the first round of voting and in all three sections - affiliates, members and registered supporters.

Labour leadership and deputy results in full (Image: REUTERS) LEADER Keir Starmer 275,780 (56.2%) Rebecca Long-Bailey 135,218 (27.6%) Lisa Nandy 79,597 (16.2%) DEPUTY LEADER Angela Rayner 228944 (52.6%) Rosena Allin-Khan 113,858 (26.1%) Richard Burgon 92643 (21.3%) Ian Murray Knocked out in second round with 14.3% Dawn Butler Knocked out in first round with 10.9% For full breakdown of results click here.

But despite being the overwhelming frontrunner for deputy, Angela Rayner only won in the third round. Candidates had to get more than 50% to win overall.

Ms Rayner said: “Together, we must rebuild and reconnect with communities right across Britain who need our support now, more than ever before.

“I know we face a long and difficult road ahead but we must unite, both in the face of this crisis and to offer the better future that the citizens of our country deserve."

A&E doctor Rosena Allin-Khan shot from being a relative unknown to coming second in the deputy race - after a memorable campaign which saw her sing Cher at a hustings.

Arch-Corbyn loyalist Richard Burgon came third while fellow left slate candidate Dawn Butler came last.

(Image: Getty Images)

Some 490,731 people voted in the leadership race despite the march of Covid-19.

Sir Keir had planned to visit 100 councils to reconnect with heartland workers and Labour's grassroots.

But like so many plans it was hurled violently off course by the outbreak of coronavirus and a nationwide lockdown.

(Image: Hollie Adams)

Instead Sir Keir, 57, comes to power at a time of unprecedented national crisis and may have to conduct his first PMQs later this month by video link.

Sir Keir said today: "Coronavirus has brought normal life to a halt. Our cities, our towns and our villages are silent, our roads deserted. Public life has all but come to a standstill and we're missing each other.

"People are frightened by the strangeness, anxious about what will happen next. And we have to remember that every number is a family shaken to its foundation."

Next month's council elections were axed for a year and instead of vicious party-political battles, some have even called for a government of national unity.

(Image: Daily Mirror/Andy Stenning)

James Schneider, Jeremy Corbyn's long-time press aide, urged Sir Keir to be “constructive” but “not give the government a free ride” - and focus on renters, the self-employed and others left out of Covid-19 help.

But former Ed Miliband aide Ayesha Hazarika said people will be "relieved that the nightmare that has been the Jeremy Corbyn tenure is over". She told the BBC: "It has been a disaster and a humiliation.

"We not only gifted the Tories their biggest majority, we tarnished the reputation of the party with anti-Semitism and bullying."

(Image: PA)

Jeremy Corbyn announced he was quitting in December after leading the party to its worst general election defeat since 1935 - gifting the Tories an 80-strong majority.

The Left-winger was blamed - along with Brexit and the breadth of Labour ’s manifesto - for the scale of the defeat after more than four years in charge.

But his wife Laura Alvarez broke almost five years of silence this week to defend his legacy and blame party disunity, not his leadership, for Labour's defeat.

Last night Mr Corbyn also issued a valedictory message in which he said Labour was in a position to win the next general election - only expected in 2024.

(Image: Daily Mirror/Andy Stenning)

Labour's outgoing leader all but officially backed Rebecca Long-Bailey, who denied being "continuity Corbyn" but called herself a "continuity socialist".

But she slipped from pole position with Sir Keir after a difficult campaign marred by in-fighting among the various left-wing factions that backed her.

She alienated members who were agnostic about Mr Corbyn by giving him "10 out of 10" and was publicly challenged over her claims that she called out anti-Semitism in key meetings.

(Image: REUTERS)

Wigan MP Lisa Nandy won plaudits for listening to the voters that Labour lost at the election - and for her level-headed, pragmatic approach to some of the biggest issues facing the country.

But she was always far behind her rivals in the polls. She said today: "We have been competitors in this contest but never opponents and he will have my full support in the challenges that lie ahead.

"A united and strong Labour party could not be more important than at this moment."

(Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)

Sir Keir began his campaign by vowing not to "oversteer" Labour away from the left.

But he also tried to appeal to centrist members and took a more pro-EU stance than his rivals - refusing to rule out campaigning to rejoin the bloc one day, and saying he'd bring back EU freedom of movement.

His campaign was knocked off course by a tragedy involving his mother-in-law Barbara, who suffered a fall in February and later died in hospital.

He said at the time: “We were overwhelmed by how incredible the NHS really is. The last few weeks have been very tough on my wife and her sister."

(Image: Huddersfield Examiner)

Sir Keir does not just enter the party under a shadow of coronavirus or family grief.

Labour officials are nervously awaiting a probe into anti-Semitism by the Equality and Human Rights Commission - the first of its kind into a political party since the BNP.

Sir Keir vowed to tackle anti-Semitism in the party by axing the party's National Constitutional Committee and replacing it with an independent complaints body.

He also vowed to take a "personal lead" on the issue by demanding a weekly report showing progress with disciplinary cases.

And he backed changing party rules to throw out members with 'clear-cut' cases of anti-Semitism more quickly.

(Image: Steve Bainbridge)

But there are difficult days ahead for the new leader - with Labour's warring factions still alive and well, while the membership and control of key bodies like the ruling NEC still tilt towards the left.

The new Labour leader is expected to immediately turn all the Opposition’s energy onto tackling the coronavirus crisis.

His supporters hope that his serious and forensic style will help hold the Government to account.

(Image: Daily Mirror/Andy Stenning)

Just an hour before today's result, Boris Johnson wrote to all opposition party leaders saying they had a "duty" to "work together" with him on fighting the virus.

He invited all opposition leaders to a briefing next week in Parliament with himself, the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser.

Mr Johnson added: "As party leaders, we have a duty to work together at this moment of national emergency.

"I want to listen to your views."

But allies have ruled out Sir Keir joining a national unity government - suggesting that Boris Johnson would only offer if he wanted to pin some of the fall-out from the coronavirus crisis onto Labour.

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth, who has been Labour’s key voice during the pandemic, would be expected to be kept in post.

The former lawyer’s closest political ally, former Darlington MP Jenny Chapman, is likely to be given a political job in the new Leader’s office.

(Image: Jonathan Hordle/REX)

Sir Keir has suggested he would offer frontbench roles to his two rivals - but it is unclear whether they could accept them.

He is also expected to “clear out” some of Mr Corbyn’s top aides from the party - including former chief of staff Karie Murphy and Labour general secretary Jennie Formby - although this would take some time.

The son of a nurse and toolmaker, who named him Keir after Keir Hardie Labour's first leader, Sir Keir studied law at Leeds and Oxford University before becoming a high-flying human rights barrister.

He married Victoria Starmer in 2007, with whom he has a 10-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter.

(Image: PA)

Mrs Starmer is a barrister, and lives with her husband in a £1.75 million house in Camden, north London.

Sir Keir co-founded Doughty Street Chambers in 1990 and advised David Morris and Helen Steel during their marathon legal battle with McDonald's - which eventually became known as the McLibel case.

He worked to eradicate the death penalty in the Caribbean, and Africa, and most recently in Taiwan.

In 2008 he was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service for England and Wales.

In this role, he brought the successful prosecution against two men accused of murdering black teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1993.

But he also faced controversy over some of the CPS's millions of decisions. The most controversial was perhaps in 2010, when he personally announced no charges would be brought over the death of Ian Tomlinson.

The newspaper seller died after being struck with a baton and pushed by a police officer at the G20 protests in 2009.

(Image: PA)

He was also at the helm during the ' Twitter joke trial' of a man who was prosecuted for a light-hearted comment about blowing up Robin Hood airport in South Yorkshire.

Meanwhile, rumours have abounded for years that Sir Keir was the inspiration for human rights lawyer Mark Darcy - the fictional love interest of Bridget Jones' Diary.

Author Helen Fielding has refused to say - and was "enigmatic" the last time the Mirror got in touch.

Keir Starmer's acceptance statement in full

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.

Coronavirus has brought normal life to a halt. Our cities, our towns and our villages are silent, our roads deserted. Public life has all but come to a standstill and we're missing each other.

People are frightened by the strangeness, anxious about what will happen next. And we have to remember that every number is a family shaken to its foundation.

Unable even to carry out the most poignant of ceremonies, a funeral, in the way that they would like. It reminds us of how precious life is, but also how fragile.

It reminds us of what really matters, our family, our friends, our relationships. The love we have for one another. Our health.

Our connections with those that we don't know. A greeting from a stranger, a kind word from a neighbour. These make up society. They remind us that we share our lives together. We have to trust one another and look after one another.

And I can see this happening, people coming together to help the isolated and the vulnerable, checking on their neighbours.

So many volunteering for the NHS, millions of people doing their bit to stop this virus and to save lives.

Our willingness to come together like this as a nation has been lying dormant for too long. When millions of us stepped out onto our doorsteps to applaud the carers visibly moved there was hope of a better future. In times like this, we need good government, a government that saves lives and protects our country.

It's a huge responsibility and whether we voted for this Government or not, we all rely on it to get this right. That's why in the national interest the Labour Party will play its full part.

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.

But we will test the arguments that are put forward. We will shine a torch on critical issues and where we see mistakes or faltering government or things not happening as quickly as they should we’ll challenge that and call that out.

Our purpose when we do that is the same as the Government's, to save lives and to protect our country, a shared purpose.

But that is not the only task for the Labour Party. The weeks ahead are going to be really difficult. I fear there are going to be some awful moments for many of us.

But we will get through this. The curve will flatten, the wards will empty, the immediate threat will subside. And we have scientists working on vaccines.

But when we do get through this we cannot go back to business as usual. This virus has exposed the fragility of our society. It's lifted a curtain.

Too many will have given too much. Some of us will have lost too much. We know in our hearts, things are going to have to change.

We can see so clearly now who the key workers really are.

When we get through this it'll be because of our NHS staff, our care workers, our ambulance drivers, our emergency services, our cleaners, our porters.

It will be because of the hard work and bravery of every key worker as they took on this virus and kept our country going.

For too long they've been taken for granted and poorly paid. They were last and now they should be first.

In their courage and their sacrifice and their bravery, we can see a better future. This crisis has brought out the resilience and human spirit in all of us.

We must go forward with a vision of a better society built on that resilience and built on that human spirit. That will require bravery and change in our party as well.

I want to thank Rebecca and Lisa for running such passionate and powerful campaigns and for their friendship and support along the way.

I want to thank our Labour Party staff who worked really hard and my own amazing campaign team, full of positivity, with that unifying spirit.

I want to pay tribute to Jeremy Corbyn, who led our party through some really difficult times, who energised our movement and who's a friend as well as a colleague.

And to all of our members, supporters and affiliates I say this: whether you voted for me or not I will represent you, I will listen to you and I will bring our party together.

But we have to face the future with honesty.

Antisemitism has been a stain on our party. I have seen the grief that it's brought to so many Jewish communities.

On behalf of the Labour Party, I am sorry.

And I will tear out this poison by its roots and judge success by the return of Jewish members and those who felt that they could no longer support us.

The Labour Party is an incredible and powerful force for good.

Together with those that went before us we've changed the lives of millions of people for the better.

We created the NHS. We created the welfare state. We passed equalities legislation, the Race Relations Act, we set up the Open University. We built hospitals and schools, established Sure Start and played our part in bringing about peace in Northern Ireland.

But we've just lost four elections in a row. We’re failing in our historic purpose.

Be in no doubt I understand the scale of the task, the gravity of the position that we're in.

We've got a mountain to climb.

But we will climb it, and I will do my utmost to reconnect us across the country, to re-engage with our communities and voters, to establish a coalition across our towns and our cities and our regions with all creeds and communities to speak for the whole of the country.

Where that requires change, we will change. Where that requires us to rethink, we will rethink.

Our mission has to be to restore trust in our party as a force for good and a force for change.

This is my pledge to the British people. I will do my utmost to guide us through these difficult times, to serve all of our communities and to strive for the good of our country.

Show more

I will lead this great party into a new era, with confidence and with hope.

So that when the time comes, we can serve our country again in government.