As Jeremy Corbyn announces he will be stepping down as Labour leader, attention has already turned to a leadership battle

With Jeremy Corbyn announcing he will quit as Labour leader, attention has turned to who will be his likely successor.

So who is in the running to replace him?

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.


On Thursday 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.



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Although Mr McDonnell has ruled himself out, some on the left of the party are keen he replaces Mr Corbyn (Picture: Rex Features)

Emily Thornberry

The shadow foreign secretary has stood in 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.

The shadow foreign secretary has stood in for Mr Corbyn in PMQs (Picture: AFP

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.

Labour Party shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the EU Keir Starmer is tipped by some to take over (Picture: AFP)

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.

She was 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.

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner is also a favourite (Picture: PA)

Rebecca Long-Bailey

The shadow business secretary grew up by the 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.

Rebecca Long-Bailey was a postwoman before eventually studying to become a solicitor (Picture: PA)

Sadiq Khan

The Mayor of London was MP for Tooting from 2005 until 2016, and if he fancied a return to parliamentary politics he could put himself in the running for leader.



Mr Khan has served as a local councillor and was transport secretary in the last Labour government.

The Mayor of London is also a favourite to replace Mr Corbyn (Picture: Rex Features)

Yvette Cooper

Yvette Cooper (front right) is a prominent Commons figure (Picture: PA)

Ms Cooper 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, she 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.

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