# Who will be the next Labour Party leader in the UK? Who should be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 13, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824 "2019-12-13T20:59:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/1 "2019-12-13T20:59:53Z")
After Labour’s losses yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn has announced he’ll be stepping down. Who comes next? Who should? ---
**Author:** ![Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankees_1996_Champs)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/2 "2019-12-13T21:02:58Z")
Emily Thornberry. Keir Starmer for Deputy PM or Finance Minister ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/3 "2019-12-13T21:06:58Z")
Harriet Harman. Corbyn needs to resign immediately, not play his game of trying to get a new hard Marxist in as leader. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/4 "2019-12-13T21:13:28Z")
Would like to see Hilary Benn as the next leader but there’s more chance of the Pope being the next Arsenal manager than that. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/5 "2019-12-14T03:29:45Z")
Could people be a little more specific as to why they believe someone will be, or should be, the next Labour leader? ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/6 "2019-12-14T07:45:56Z")
if it wasn’t for the 2nd Iraq war thing id say bring back tony Blair … just to bring in the moderates again ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/7 "2019-12-14T08:04:31Z")
Whoever can lie the best and break the law the most stylishly. That seems to be what works for winning the public’s hearts and minds in this country. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/8 "2019-12-14T09:22:13Z")
I’m guessing it will probably be a woman. Yvette Cooper would be the best choice if the party wants an experienced centrist. But it will probably be a Corbynista. Rebecca Long-Bailey is probably leading from that category. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/9 "2019-12-14T11:30:52Z")
I like Ang Rayner but I think she should keep her powder dry and build a centre left powerbase in the party - she’s quite young in any case and I think the immediate leader needs to be an experienced parliamentarian. It’s going to be a recriminatory war in the short term so really we’re looking at a Kinnock or Smith figure to start the long march back to electability. I understand the shouts for people like Keir Starmer just because it would be nice to see a grownup in charge. But look past that and it’s a total non-starter for what the party needs right now - a London-based male technocrat is not going to unite a core vote that’s been smashed to bits. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/10 "2019-12-14T16:07:57Z")
Yvette Cooper would be a bad choice - I live in her constituency, if Corbyn lost a lot of votes for being Corbyn, you have to understand that Cooper lost a lot of votes for being Cooper. The thing that really cost her is that this constituency voter 70% to Leave, and she actively worked to block any prospect of a Leave deal, not only that, she worked very hard to prevent it and was very effective. This is not to say that Leave was directly the issue so much the perceived arrogance that once she had our votes she felt free to work vocally against their wishes - its more the sense of complete loss of trust. Her best course of action would have been to stay quiet or abstain from Euro votes and cite her constituency wishes - but instead she stuck to the Remain agenda and her own local party hacks who also were not listening to the overwhelming majority. I think she is one of the Labour outliers but provides a more extreme version of the symptoms of what took place elsewhere. She will not win her next election, if Labour wish to rebuild in this area she needs to resign - but she won’t because despite it all she was returned - even with the second largest swing against a sitting MP in the country. Whilst the swing in most areas was around 10% away from Labour, in this constituency it was 21% - there were many who voted Brexit party because they thought that the Tories didn’t have a chance - next time there is a vote those disaffected Brexit voters will realise she can be unseated and willl vote Tory- Cooper will be toast. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/11 "2019-12-14T17:23:26Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > Whoever can lie the best and break the law the most stylishly. That seems to be what works for winning the public’s hearts and minds in this country. Sadly I agree with this. :smack: (And it works in the USA as well. :eek: ) ---
**Author:** ![Provincial\_Hoi\_Polloi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c89c15/32.png) [@Provincial\_Hoi\_Polloi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Provincial_Hoi_Polloi)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/12 "2019-12-14T19:23:54Z")
You’d think London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan (I swear he’s changed his name to that by deed poll) would be in the running, were it not for the slight hitch that he’s not an MP. Khan is nakedly ambitious and was quick out of the blocks to remind everybody that Labour did well in London (or Sadiq Khan’s London as it’s known.) Let’s see, it’s mayoral elections next year. Could he drop out, parachute into parliament and immediately become leader of the PLP? I guess not. Maybe the time after that, if Labour still exists as a major party. Miliband senior also popped up to say “told you so, if only the party had a more Blairite leadership,” but honestly I think there would have to be a split on the left and a whole New-New Labour party for that to happen. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/13 "2019-12-14T19:38:56Z")
I’d be fine with Khan or David Miliband. Anyone to get Labour back to common sense and far away from the Corbynista coup. I suggested Harriet Harman as a consensus choice. It gets Labour a woman leader to get over that hump and I think she’d be fine as a caretaker leader while Labour returns to the wilderness. I can’t think of any major political party in the developed world that has been less successful than Labour. Blair has been their only success. It’s time for the PLP to get nasty and purge the party yet again of the hard left Corbyn cult. Kinnock and Blair were a vacccine against those nut jobs but unfortunately the anti vaxxers let the diseases back in. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/14 "2019-12-14T20:25:04Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I can’t think of any major political party in the developed world that has been less successful than Labour. Blair has been their only success. Yeah, such a shame that Atlee lost the 1945 election. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/15 "2019-12-14T20:50:41Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > Yeah, such a shame that Atlee lost the 1945 election. 1945 was a damn long time ago and this isn’t post WW II. Not too many people alive that voted in that election. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/16 "2019-12-14T21:06:33Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Yvette Cooper would be a bad choice - I live in her constituency, if Corbyn lost a lot of votes for being Corbyn, you have to understand that Cooper lost a lot of votes for being Cooper. > > The thing that really cost her is that this constituency voter 70% to Leave, and she actively worked to block any prospect of a Leave deal, not only that, she worked very hard to prevent it and was very effective. > > This is not to say that Leave was directly the issue so much the perceived arrogance that once she had our votes she felt free to work vocally against their wishes - its more the sense of complete loss of trust. Her best course of action would have been to stay quiet or abstain from Euro votes and cite her constituency wishes - but instead she stuck to the Remain agenda and her own local party hacks who also were not listening to the overwhelming majority. > > I think she is one of the Labour outliers but provides a more extreme version of the symptoms of what took place elsewhere. She will not win her next election, if Labour wish to rebuild in this area she needs to resign - but she won’t because despite it all she was returned - even with the second largest swing against a sitting MP in the country. > > Whilst the swing in most areas was around 10% away from Labour, in this constituency it was 21% - there were many who voted Brexit party because they thought that the Tories didn’t have a chance - next time there is a vote those disaffected Brexit voters will realise she can be unseated and willl vote Tory- Cooper will be toast. Thanks for the local perspective. If her constituency finds her unattractive in a strong Labour seat, then I agree she’s not the right candidate for a future party leader. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/17 "2019-12-14T21:07:35Z")
**Dan Jarvis**. He was re-elected to his seat in a heavy leave constituency despite personally being a remainer, has a solid background, and was shrewd enough to understand he had to support his constituents wanting to leave, is an experienced administrator and pragmatist and is someone who is going to get alot of respect from the heartlands we’ve just lost. Why he hasn’t been considered before is beyond me. But with Corbyn project heavily discredited, anyone who was associated with it will lose the next general election. > **[Dan Jarvis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Jarvis)** > > Daniel Owen Woolgar Jarvis MBE (born 30 November 1972) is a British Labour Party politician and former British Army officer who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Barnsley Central since 2011. He also served as the Mayor of South Yorkshire (formerly Mayor of the Sheffield City Region) from 2018 to 2022 and was a member of the Parachute Regiment from 1997 to 2011. > Daniel Owen Woolgar Jarvis was born in Nottingham on 30 November 1972, the son of a lecturer at a teacher-training coll... ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/18 "2019-12-14T21:12:06Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I’d be fine with Khan or David Miliband. Anyone to get Labour back to common sense and far away from the Corbynista coup. > > I suggested Harriet Harman as a consensus choice. It gets Labour a woman leader to get over that hump and I think she’d be fine as a caretaker leader while Labour returns to the wilderness. I can’t think of any major political party in the developed world that has been less successful than Labour. Blair has been their only success. > > It’s time for the PLP to get nasty and purge the party yet again of the hard left Corbyn cult. Kinnock and Blair were a vacccine against those nut jobs but unfortunately the anti vaxxers let the diseases back in. Harriet Harman is not popular enough. Rebecca Long Bailey, Emily Thornberry, Keir Starmer and Angela Rainer are all tainted by the legacy of Corbynism. ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/19 "2019-12-14T22:18:27Z")
> [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > **Dan Jarvis**. He was re-elected to his seat in a heavy leave constituency despite personally being a remainer, has a solid background, and was shrewd enough to understand he had to support his constituents wanting to leave, is an experienced administrator and pragmatist and is someone who is going to get alot of respect from the heartlands we’ve just lost. Why he hasn’t been considered before is beyond me. But with Corbyn project heavily discredited, anyone who was associated with it will lose the next general election. > > [Dan Jarvis - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Jarvis) I couldn’t support someone like that who abdicates their reason and judgement to the fickle notions of the mob. Nobody has yet explained to me why we should respect a majority vote for an opinion based on lies. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2019, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824/20 "2019-12-15T04:14:53Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > I couldn’t support someone like that who abdicates their reason and judgement to the fickle notions of the mob… [https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/edmund\_burke\_166515](https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/edmund_burke_166515) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-labour-party-leader-in-the-uk-who-should-be/844824.md?page=2)