Momentum vows to 'hold Keir Starmer to account' after Labour left suffers heavy defeats

Pro-Jeremy Corbyn campaign group Momentum has vowed to "hold Keir Starmer to account" after his comprehensive victory in the Labour leadership election.

Sir Keir comprehensively defeated left-wing standard bearer Rebecca Long-Bailey in the race to succeed Mr Corbyn.

Meanwhile, Richard Burgon was beaten into a distant third place in the deputy leadership race, which was won by Angela Rayner.

And in a further blow for the Labour left, three moderate candidates won election to the party's National Executive Committee - handing Sir Keir a majority on the powerful body.

Reacting to his victory in a series of tweets, Momentum - which was established after Mr Corbyn became leader in 2015 - said it "look forward to working [with Sir Keir and Ms Rayner] to elect a Labour government that will carry out the kind of transformational policies our country needs".

The group added: "In four and a half years, Jeremy Corbyn and the movement around him has changed our party and country for the better, giving a voice to the hopes of millions who felt unrepresented in politics.

"Austerity as a political project has been defeated and the days when Labour cheered on privatisation, pursued illegal wars and demonised migrants are over. Our membership has tripled, we have double the number of left MPs and our party brims with ideas for a socialist future.

"Keir has pledged support for most of the programme, including the public ownership of rail, mail, energy and water, a Green New Deal, kicking the privatisers out of the NHS, scrapping tuition fees, closing down detention centres and taxing the top 5%.

"His mandate is to build on Jeremy’s transformative vision, and this means appointing a broad shadow cabinet who believe in the policies and will work with members to make them a reality.

"In this new era Momentum will play a new role. We’ll hold Keir to account and make sure he keeps his promises, champion big ideas like the Green New Deal, build the power of Labour members and do everything we can to get a Labour government elected."

Ms Long-Bailey, who received 27.6% of the vote, compared to Sir Keir's 56.2%, said her rival "will be a brilliant Prime Minister and I can't wait to see him in Number 10".

She said: "I will do all I can to make that a reality and to ensure the Labour Party gets into government with a transformative agenda at the next election."

Ms Long-Bailey is expected to secure a place in Sir Keir's Shadow Cabinet, alongwith Lisa Nandy, who came third in the leadership election with 16.2% of the vote.

The new leader will announce his new line-up on Sunday, with Anneliese Dodds hotly-tipped to be the new Shadow Chancellor.