Labour leadership: Jeremy Corbyn’s successor looks set to be a woman with five names in the frame Labour delegates believe contest for next Labour leader could be sooner than later

Jeremy Corbyn’s successor looks set to be a woman unless Sir Keir Starmer can resist the overwhelming pressure for Labour to elect its first female leader.

After winning two overwhelming victories in leadership contests, Mr Corbyn’s position looked unassailable when the party gathered in Liverpool in 2018.

Things have changed this year in Brighton. When delegates are not wrangling over their Brexit stance, they are agonising over who will take over when he steps down.

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Many believe that day could soon be upon them if Labour loses the general election likely to take place within months.

Bookies’ favourite

Mr Corbyn’s closest ally, John McDonnell, has argued that the next leader should be female and four of the five leading names in the frame are women – Emily Thornberry, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Angela Rayner and Laura Pidcock.

However, Sir Keir is narrowly the bookies’ favourite and is being championed by soft-left MPs as their best hopes of steering the party away from the political ground staked out by Corbyn supporters.

The struggle for the Labour crown will come down to a battle between conflicting visions of the party’s future and reflect the divisions which have opened in Labour ranks over Brexit.

Both Sir Keir, the shadow Brexit Secretary, and Ms Thornberry, the shadow Foreign Secretary, have been unashamed in breaking with Mr Corbyn by insisting they would campaign for a Remain vote in a second referendum in all circumstances.

Corbyn loyalists irritated

Ms Thornberry irritated Corbyn loyalists by telling thousands of Labour activists at People’s Vote rally in Brighton that “the members must be heard, because this is what democracy looks like”.

While Ms Thornberry has won admirers for her colourful speaking style, Sir Keir struggles to scale the rhetorical heights.

Both could suffer – like Mr Corbyn – from representing seats in North London far removed politically and demographically from the party’s historic heartlands in the North of England and the Midlands.

The Corbyn team has spent the last two years building up the profile of Ms Long-Bailey, the Shadow Business Secretary, as the contender best placed to continue his work of repositioning the party.

Dark horse candidate

They also argue that the Salford and Eccles MP would provide a striking contrast with Old Etonian Boris Johnson.

Among Corbynistas Ms Pidcock, the shadow business minister who has only been an MP for two years, is the dark horse candidate whose chances would steadily improve the longer the Labour leader remains in post.

Ms Rayner, the shadow Education Secretary, has been touted as a leader-in-waiting but the consensus in Labour ranks is that her prospects have slightly faded.

But she could emerge as a compromise choice who appeals to Corbyn loyalists and sceptics alike.