Labour leadership: Candidates clash in Liverpool hustings as Keir Starmer takes early poll lead

Follow how the debate unfolded

Who are the Labour leadership contenders?

Labour leadership hopefuls have gone head-to-head for the chance to succeed Jeremy Corbyn at the party's first hustings.

Sir Keir Starmer has cemented his early lead in the contest with a new YouGov poll of Labour members handing him a clear lead over his nearest rival, left-wing contender Rebecca Long-Bailey.

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry was struggling to make up ground as she launched her campaign on Friday, with prominent backbenchers Lisa Nandy and Jess Phillips also trailing behind.

The hustings in Liverpool on Saturday also saw a clash between deputy leadership hopefuls, where Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, is the clear favourite.

Key Points

• Labour leadership candidates to battle it out in first hustings
• ... as Sir Keir Starmer cements early lead in race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn

[18 January 2020 10:25 · Lizzy Buchan]

Welcome to The Independent's politics liveblog, where we will be bringing you all the latest from the first Labour leadership hustings.

[18 January 2020 10:34 · Samuel Osborne]

Sir Keir Starmer has taken an early lead in the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn, and has managed to solidify his position ahead of Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lizzy Buchan writes:

[18 January 2020 10:52 · Lizzy Buchan]

Labour is hosting its first hustings for leader and deputy leadership candidate in Liverpool today, from 11.30am.

You can watch the livestream here:

https://labour.org.uk/people/leadership-elections-hub-2020/leadership-elections-hustings/live/

[18 January 2020 11:06 · Samuel Osborne]

Early front-runner Sir Keir Starmer is competing against Rebecca Long-Baily and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, who officially launched their campaigns to become Labour leader on Friday night.

Backbenchers Jess Phillips and Lisa Nandy also entered the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn.

[18 January 2020 11:14 · Lizzy Buchan]

Who are the candidates and what do they stand for?

[18 January 2020 11:15 · Samuel Osborne]

Setting out her stall in her hometown of Guildford, Ms Thornberry warned Labour faces "a long, tough road back to power" after the party suffered its worst general election defeat since 1935.

The Islington South and Finsbury MP, who narrowly secured the necessary support from MPs to enter the race on Monday, insisted she was the best placed to oust Boris Johnson as prime minister within five years.

"Boris Johnson has all sorts of problems with women. And he is going to have an even bigger one if I become leader of the Labour Party," she told the Press Association.

"I think that he has a problem with women. I have spoken to a number of women who have said that the way he deals with them - and they are younger women - is that he flirts with them.

"He makes light of them and he undermines them. He has problems with women such as myself. He doesn't know what to do with me. I think that he doesn't know how to relate to women."

She added: "I think that a competent alternative government could get back into power within five years."

[18 January 2020 11:23 · Samuel Osborne]

Shadow business secretary Ms Long-Bailey launched her campaign with a speech in Manchester, in which she said her party did not talk enough about "aspiration".

She also vowed to "shake up" the way government works, and put power into the hands of voters.

Described as a "continuity Corbyn" candidate said to be favoured by the current leadership and backed by campaign group Momentum, her supporters have bridled at the description.

As she took to the stage at the Museum of Science and Industry, some of the 300 or so supporters at the event broke into a chant of "Oh Jeremy Corbyn".

Ms Long-Bailey told them: "Hey guys, we're going to have to think of a new song you know. No pressure."

When was asked why Labour had failed with voters, returning their worst electoral result since 1935, she said: "I think for me we had some fantastic policies, I know because I helped write some of them, and really the message didn't resonate with our voters. And what we should have been talking about is aspiration.

"Because everything we are trying to build and I am going to try to build as leader of the Labour Party is about realising the potential, truly realising that quality of life increase, whether you are a business, whether you are an industry or an individual, our role as a party is to improve your living standards and the wealth you can accumulate as communities.

"And we didn't say that. We didn't match that with a message of aspiration. We want an economy where everyone does well."

[18 January 2020 11:28 · Samuel Osborne]

A lot of questions have been submitted for the first Labour leadership hustings.

[18 January 2020 11:37 · Samuel Osborne]

The Labour leadership's first regional hustings is just about to begin in Liverpool.

You can follow the live broadcast here.

[18 January 2020 11:49 · Samuel Osborne]

The candidates have all given concise answers to the question of how they would unite the Labour party and put a stop to factionalism.

Rebecca Long-Baily said Labour had not been united over the last four years, while Jess Phillips said the Labour leader would need to build a broad team. 

Emily Thornberry said Labour had to stick together to achieve its purpose of fighting the Tories and coming to power. "It will not happen unless we are united," she said.

Lisa Nandy praised the "loyalty and experience" of Labour activists who have gone out door-knocking for 20 years.

Sir Keir Starmer said: "We need to draw the strength, the passion, the dedication and commitment of our members when we are together. We are unstoppable when we are united."