Campaigned for | 2015 Labour Party leadership election |
---|---|
Candidate | Jeremy Corbyn MP |
Status | Announced: 3 June 2015 Nominated: 15 June 2015 Won election: 12 September 2015 |
Headquarters | Walkden House, 10 Melton St, Kings Cross, Camden, London, NW1 2EJ |
Key people |
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Slogan | Straight Talking, Honest Politics |
Chant | "Jez We Can" |
Jeremy Corbyn, the Member of Parliament for Islington North, stood as a candidate in the 2015 British Labour Party leadership election, in a successful campaign that made him the leader of the Labour Party.
His campaign was announced in an article for the Islington Tribune on 3 June 2015. Corbyn pledged to stand on a "clear anti-austerity platform" and because he wanted to "give Labour Party members a voice" in the debate.[1]
Commentators in the media widely predicted that Corbyn would struggle to pass the threshold of 35 nominations from Labour MPs required to become a candidate. However, he managed narrowly—and at the last minute—to secure sufficient support from parliamentary colleagues, with 36 nominations in total.[2] Around 12 of the MPs who nominated him actually supported other candidates, but "lent" him their support in order to widen the contest.[3] Corbyn was reported to say: "We had two minutes to spare, it was easy."[4]
He was originally seen as a rank-outsider, given odds of 200/1 to win by bookmakers in June 2015.[5] However, following a series of televised and radio debates with the other three candidates, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall, Corbyn received the highest number of supporting nominations from Constituency Labour Parties, winning over 100 by the end of July.[6] Corbyn went on to gain the support of six of the Labour Party's fourteen affiliated trade unions, including the UK's two largest trade unions, Unite and UNISON.[7][8]
On 12 September 2015 Corbyn was elected Leader of the Labour Party in a landslide victory, with 59.5% of first-preference votes.[9]