Odds for Labour leadership contenders Keir Starmer 3/1 Rebecca Long-Bailey 3/1 Yvette Cooper 8/1 Angela Rayner 10/1 John McDonnell 16/1 Lisa Nandy 16/1 Source: Ladbrokes Advertisement

Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey are the leading contenders to take over from Jeremy Corbyn as he announced his imminent resignation.

Speaking in his Islington North constituency, Mr Corbyn described the 2019 general election outcome as 'very disappointing' and said he will not lead the party in any future election.

Moderate Sir Keir and his Corbynite rival are both 3/1 to become leader if Mr Corbyn steps down as expected, with Yvette Cooper in second position at 8/1.

Whoever is successful will face a huge battle to rebuild the party as it looks set to languish on just 199 seats and trailing the Conservatives by a massive 74.

A confrontation to succeed Mr Corbyn will pitch Labour's hard Left with the moderates who have been out in the cold for four years.

John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, is reportedly poised to take over as interim leader for six months to help his wing of the party to regain control. He is on 16/1 to go on to become leader, according to Ladbrokes .

He is understood to want his protege Ms Long-Bailey to take over.

But the moderates will fight back with candidates including strongly pro-Remain Sir Keir, the shadow Brexit secretary.

Keir Starmer is joint favourite to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, according to the latest odds

Sir Keir and Rebecca Long-Bailey (pictured are at 3/1 to become leader if Mr Corbyn steps down as expected

Frontrunner Sir Keir Starmer is the moderate favourite to succeed Mr Corbyn.

He was a human rights lawyer before becoming an MP, and co-founded Doughty Street Chambers in 1990.

He worked as human rights adviser to the Policing Board in Northern Ireland, monitoring compliance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) with the Human Rights Act, and in 2008 he was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service for England and Wales.

Sir Keir was elected as Labour MP for Holborn & St Pancras in May 2015.

Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey grew up by Old Trafford football ground in Manchester and began her working life serving at the counter of a pawn shop, according to her website.

She has also worked in call centres, a furniture factory, and as a postwoman before eventually studying to become a solicitor, her online biography adds, while she describes herself as a 'proud Socialist' in her Twitter profile.

In 2015 she was elected as MP for Salford and Eccles and has been considered a Corbynite.

Yvette Cooper (8/1) has been an MP since 1997 and has held positions including chief secretary to the Treasury and secretary of state for work and pensions when Labour was in government.

More recently, Ms Cooper has been on a number of committees including the Home Affairs Committee, where as chair she has conducted forensic questioning.

Ms Cooper, who is married to Ed Balls, is a prominent Commons figure and is popular among MPs.

Mr McDonnell named shadow education secretary Angela Rayner (10/1) as a possible successor to Mr Corbyn in an interview with former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell for GQ magazine in October, saying whoever comes after Mr Corbyn 'has got to be a woman'.

Ms Rayner was brought up on a council estate and left her local comprehensive at 16 with no qualifications and pregnant, after being told she would 'never amount to anything', according to her website. It adds that in 2015 she became the first woman MP in the 180-year history of her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency.

Her web page also says she rose through the ranks of the trade union movement to become the most senior elected official of Unison in the North West.

Yvette Cooper in second position at 8/1 followed by shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner on 10/1, according to Ladbrokes

Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry was not included in the Ladbrokes odds, but elsewhere is listed at 17/1

On 16/1 is shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who played a prominent role throughout the General Election campaign, but has appeared to have ruled himself out as a future leader.

Last night, Mr McDonnell said he will not serve 'either as a temporary or a permanent' leader of the Labour Party if Mr Corbyn were to resign.

Back in October, Mr McDonnell said he 'can't see' how he or close ally Mr Corbyn could continue to lead the party if they failed to win power after the next general election.

Lisa Nandy is at the bottom of the Ladbrokes rankings at 16/1.

She has served in Mr Corbyn's cabinet first as Shadow Minister for Children and then Charities followed by Energy and Climate Change.

She received a tide of abuse after announcing she had backed Boris Johnson's Brexit deal at its second reading.

John McDonnell - who will be under huge pressure to step down as Shadow Chancellor if Labour's election disaster materialises - has odds of 16/1

Other likely candidates are Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, who is not rated by Ladbrokes but listed elsewhere at 17/1.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also been placed among the running.

Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon and Treasury spokesman Clive Lewis could also throw their hats into the ring.

Jess Phillips also declined to rule out running for leader when asked this morning - having previously said she would like the job.

She told ITV: 'I have absolutely no idea, is the truth. I haven't slept for 48 hours.

'I don't know what is going to happen next, but what I do know is that if we just think this is just some personality contest at the top of the party, that that's going to be the answer to rescue the single greatest vehicle for social change, then we will inevitably end up in a poor situation.'

'He went down like a lead balloon': Furious Labour MPs round on Jeremy Corbyn as they blame him - not Brexit - for their party's 'crushing defeat'

Jeremy Corbyn was quickly coming under fierce criticism as Labour looked set to face a crushing electoral defeat with the exit poll predicting the Tories securing a strong majority.

The official party line was to blame Brexit for dominating the discourse, but the Labour leader was quickly being cited as being the greater problem on the doorstep.

Tensions swiftly returned to the surface when the poll suggested Labour would slump 52 seats to 191 while the Tories would surge to 368 and win a majority of 86.

With Labour's worst result since 1935 forecast, the party lost Blyth Valley to the Conservatives. Labour had held the seat since 1950.

Jeremy Corbyn spotted shortly after the election exit poll came in at around 10pm

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell sought to blame a public discourse in which 'Brexit has dominated' and defended the left-wing policies adopted by him and Mr Corbyn.

But Mr Corbyn will face overwhelming pressure to resign having suffered his second general election defeat.

Who are the key personalities in Labour's upcoming leadership battle? John McDonnell The shadow chancellor played a prominent role throughout the General Election campaign, but has appeared to have ruled himself out as a future leader. Last night, Mr McDonnell said he will not serve 'either as a temporary or a permanent' leader of the Labour Party if Mr Corbyn were to resign. Back in October, Mr McDonnell said he 'can't see' how he or close ally Mr Corbyn could continue to lead the party if they failed to win power after the next general election. Emily Thornberry The shadow foreign secretary has deputised for Mr Corbyn in PMQs and has represented the Labour Party on various overseas visits. Ms Thornberry, who campaigned for Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, joined the party when she was 17 and was motivated by her experiences being raised by her mother, a single parent living on a council estate, according to her website. She was first elected as MP for Islington South and Finsbury on May 5 2005. Keir Starmer The shadow Brexit secretary was a human rights lawyer before becoming an MP, and co-founded Doughty Street Chambers in 1990. He worked as human rights adviser to the Policing Board in Northern Ireland, monitoring compliance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) with the Human Rights Act, and in 2008 he was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service for England and Wales. Sir Keir was elected as Labour MP for Holborn & St Pancras in May 2015. Angela Rayner Mr McDonnell named shadow education secretary Ms Rayner as a possible successor to Mr Corbyn in an interview with former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell for GQ magazine in October, saying whoever comes after Mr Corbyn 'has got to be a woman'. Ms Rayner was brought up on a council estate and left her local comprehensive at 16 with no qualifications and pregnant, after being told she would 'never amount to anything', according to her website. It adds that in 2015 she became the first woman MP in the 180-year history of her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency. Her web page also says she rose through the ranks of the trade union movement to become the most senior elected official of Unison in the North West. Rebecca Long-Bailey The shadow business secretary grew up by Old Trafford football ground in Manchester and began her working life serving at the counter of a pawn shop, according to her website. She has also worked in call centres, a furniture factory, and as a postwoman before eventually studying to become a solicitor, her online biography adds, while she describes herself as a 'proud Socialist' in her Twitter profile. In 2015 she was elected as MP for Salford and Eccles. Advertisement

Ian Murray, who previously served as shadow Scotland secretary under Mr Corbyn and is trying to retain Edinburgh South, rejected the official narrative.

'Every door I knocked on, and my team and I spoke to 11,000 people, mentioned Corbyn,' he said.

'Not Brexit but Corbyn. I've been saying this for years.

'The outcome is that we've let the country down and we must change course and fast.'

Labour's Gareth Snell predicted his own defeat ahead in the Brexit-backing former stronghold of Stoke-on-Trent Central and called for the resignation of Mr Corbyn on the BBC.

'I'm going to lose badly and this is the start of 20 years of Tory rule,' he added.

Phil Wilson, who faces a struggle to retain Tony Blair's former seat of Sedgefield, was highly critical of the Brexit defence.

'For @UKLabour leadership to blame Brexit for the result is mendacious nonsense. Jeremy Corbyn's leadership was a bigger problem. To say otherwise is delusional,' he tweeted.

'The Party's leadership went down like a lead balloon on the doorstep. Labour's leadership needs to take responsibility.'

Former culture secretary Ben Bradshaw, who was trying to retain Exeter for Labour, said he has the data to show the 'overwhelming negative' among every voting group was the leadership and not Brexit.

Ahead of the election, Labour sources had been predicting that Mr Corbyn would stay on as interim leader into the new year as a leadership battle is fought if the Tories won a majority.

Mr McDonnell told the BBC he was shocked by the exit poll, having thought the polls were narrowing in what he described as a 'Brexit election'.

'If it is anywhere near this it will be extremely disappointing for the party overall and for our movement,' he said.

'I think Brexit has dominated, it has dominated everything by the looks of it.

'We thought other issues could cut through and there would be a wider debate, from this evidence there clearly wasn't.'

Mr McDonnell cited 'despair' among the electorate at wanting an end to the Brexit saga, adding: 'I think this Brexit frustration has broken through.'

On his and Mr Corbyn's future, he cautioned that the actual results needed to be seen but said: 'The appropriate decisions will be made and we'll always make the decisions in the best interests of our party.'

Labour's Dagenham East candidate Margaret Hodge, a vocal critic of Mr Corbyn over his handling of anti-Semitism in the party, said the poll suggested an 'utter failure' of 'Corbynism'.

Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon was following the script to blame the 'Brexit election' and suggested the party could continue in the same vain saying the next election will be different 'given Johnson's Thatcherite agenda'.

Caroline Flint, a Labour former Europe minister standing in the Leave-backing Don Valley constituency, blamed multiple wings of the party.

'We're going to hear the Corbynistas blame it on Brexit and the Labour Uber Remainers blaming Corbyn,' she said.

'Both are to blame for what looks like a terrible night for Labour.

'Both have taken for granted Labour's heartlands.'