The 2016 Labour Party leadership election was called when a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party arose following criticism of his approach to the Remain campaign in the referendum on membership of the European Union and questions about his leadership of the party.
Following a period of tension over Corbyn's leadership, the immediate trigger to events was the Leave result of the referendum. Hilary Benn, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, was dismissed by Corbyn on 25 June after Benn expressed no confidence in him. More than two dozen members of the Shadow Cabinet resigned over the following two days, and a no-confidence vote was supported by 172 MPs in the Parliamentary Labour Party, against 40 supporting Corbyn. It was reported that Tom Watson, the Deputy Leader, told Corbyn that he would face a challenge to his position as leader. Corbyn stated that he would not resign.
By the end of June, Angela Eagle and Owen Smith were being promoted as intending to contest the leadership. Eagle announced her candidacy on 11 July, and Smith did likewise on 13 July. The National Executive Committee decided that, as the incumbent, Corbyn would be automatically included on the ballot without requiring nominations from the parliamentary party; some political analysts had previously predicted that Corbyn would struggle to obtain the requisite number of signatures had that been required.
Eagle pulled out of the race on 19 July, leaving Smith to challenge Corbyn for the leadership in a head-to-head race; Eagle said that she would back Smith after she had attracted fewer nominations. Smith told the BBC that Eagle was a "star" and that she would be "at [his] right hand" if he won the leadership.
The result was announced on 24 September 2016. Corbyn won the election with 313,209 votes, increasing his share of the vote from 59.5% to 61.8% compared with the result of the 2015 leadership election and receiving some 62,000 more votes than in 2015.
Background
2015 leadership election Jeremy Corbyn was one of four candidates for the Labour Party leadership in the 2015 leadership election triggered by the resignation of Ed Miliband as leader. He qualified for the ballot at the last minute, nominated by 36 MPs, the majority of whom did not support him but felt that the party should be able to vote on a wider range of candidates. Despite being the most unpopular option with the Parliamentary Labour Party, with only 13 MPs voting for him, he received 59.5% of the first preference votes from an electorate consisting of party membership, members of affiliated trade unions and supporters who paid £3 to have a vote.
Leadership challenge When it became clear that Jeremy Corbyn would win the leadership election in 2015, the possibility of a challenge to his leadership was predicted by then Labour MP Simon Danczuk. A leadership challenge was then much discussed in the British press in November due to a split in the parliamentary party over the prospect of Britain's participation in air strikes in Syria. Another potential challenge was predicted in April after Ken Livingstone's allegedly anti-semitic comments led to his suspension, and Shadow Cabinet members allegedly held talks with plotters. The Guardian reported that "a small group of Labour MPs and advisers had been telling journalists for months to 'expect movement' against Corbyn on 24 June."
After the referendum The pressure on Corbyn intensified as a result of the European Union referendum and dissatisfaction with his level of support for the losing Remain campaign. On 25 June, a 'Saving Labour' campaign website was created, to encourage members of the public to email MPs to urge them not to back Corbyn.
Shadow Cabinet resignations On 25 June Hilary Benn, a critic of Corbyn, contacted members of the shadow cabinet to inform them that he had lost confidence in Corbyn. He was subsequently sacked as shadow Foreign Secretary, triggering a series of Shadow Cabinet resignations; at least 20 individuals resigned over the next few days. An article in The Observer, published online at 10 pm on 25 June, claimed that Benn had been sounding out a challenge against Corbyn. Corbyn assembled a new Shadow Cabinet, and insisted that he would not resign.
Vote of no confidence A vote of no confidence in Corbyn was made by the parliamentary party on 28 June, with Corbyn losing the vote by 172 to 40, with four spoiled ballots and thirteen absentees. However Labour Party rules did not require Corbyn to resign as a result of the vote. Corbyn struggled to fill a new Shadow Cabinet, which had to be reduced in size from 31 to 25. The Scottish National Party sought to argue that they should become the official Opposition in the Commons with Labour unable to fill the role.
Leadership challenge Corbyn continued to refuse to step down as leader, saying that the ballot had "no constitutional legitimacy" and he would not "betray" the members that elected him in the 2015 leadership election. In order to challenge an incumbent leader, a serving Labour MP needed to gather the support of at least 20% of Labour MPs (15% of Labour MPs and also MEPs being required if a leader has resigned). Angela Eagle, a former member of his Shadow Cabinet who resigned after Benn's sacking, was said on 30 June to have the number of backers required to launch a challenge. Separate meetings to discuss the situation were held by Corbyn and Watson with UNITE trade union leader Len McCluskey on 5 July.
Following the sacking of Hilary Benn, and the vote of no confidence in Corbyn's leadership, over 100,000 new members were reported to have joined the Labour Party by 8 July, taking membership numbers above 500,000. Both supporters and opponents of Corbyn signed up new members.
By 8 July there were no declared leadership challengers, Corbyn had not resigned, and both his supporters and some critics considered that he was in a good position to win any leadership vote. Corbyn challenged the rebels to stand against him, and it was reported that Eagle had secured the support of at least the requisite number of nominations needed to launch a leadership bid. The following day, Eagle announced that she would formally launch her campaign on 11 July. In her speech, Eagle said "Jeremy Corbyn is unable to provide the leadership this huge task needs."
The party's National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on 12 July was expected to consider the arrangements for an election. The arrangements were decided by secret ballot with the vote 18 to 14 in favour of the incumbent leader being automatically on the ballot. The NEC also decided to not allow members who joined the party in the past six months to vote in the leadership election, so the approximately 130,000 new members who had joined since the European Union referendum would be unable to vote. Instead registered supporters were given a period of two days to register, at a fee of £25, to be entitled to vote. Additionally the NEC ruled that local Constituency Labour Parties should not hold members' meetings during the leadership election period.
There was pressure before the nominations close on 20 July for one of the two challengers, either Smith or Eagle, to withdraw in order to unify the anti-Corbyn campaign. The two agreed between themselves that whoever had fewest nominations from MPs/MEPs by the end of the working day on 19 July would withdraw in favour of the other. Eagle, with about 20 fewer nominations, did so, leaving Smith as the only challenger to Corbyn. She pledged her support for his campaign. Smith explained that his decision to run for leader was partly because the future of the Labour party was at risk, stating that the "possibility of split is dangerously real".
Reaction Andrew Rawnsley, chief political commentator for The Observer, described the leadership race as a crisis for Labour, which he saw as "fighting for its life." On 24 July 2016, he discussed the "mutiny" against Corbyn by the majority of MPs who voted against him in the no confidence motion but warned that they "do not have the backing of a large chunk of the party selectorate [party members who will vote in the leadership election] that picks the leader... [but that selectorate] is wildly unrepresentative of the voters that Labour must persuade if the party is to survive as a plausible opposition, never mind become a viable competitor for power."
Leadership contender Owen Smith had supported the campaign for Britain to remain in the European Union, in the referendum on Britain's membership in June 2016. During an interview with the BBC, Smith opined that those who had voted with the Leave faction had done so "because they felt a sense of loss in their communities, decline, cuts that have hammered away at vital public services and they haven't felt that any politicians, certainly not the politicians they expect to stand up for them, the Labour Party, has been standing up for them."
Procedure The election was conducted under a pure "one member, one vote" (OMOV) system, as had been the case at the 2015 leadership election. Candidates would be elected by members and registered and affiliated supporters, who all receive a maximum of one vote and all votes will be weighted equally. This means that, for example, members of Labour-affiliated trade unions need to register as affiliated Labour supporters to vote.
To stand, challengers needed to be nominated by at least 20% of the combined membership of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) and European Parliamentary Labour Party, i.e. 51 MPs/MEPs, at the time. As the incumbent, Jeremy Corbyn, by decision of the National Executive Committee, was automatically included on the ballot. The vote, as in previous elections, was held under the alternative vote (instant-runoff) system.
The election itself was overseen by Electoral Reform Services.
Timetable The Special Conference at the end of the Collins Review concluded that all selection timetables should be, once started, as short as possible. The Collins Report also states: "The NEC should agree the detailed procedures for leadership elections including issues regarding registration, fees, and freeze dates". The party required members to hold six months' continuous party membership on the freeze date to be eligible to take part in a selection.
The meeting of Labour's National Executive Committee on 12 July 2016 set a timetable and procedure for the election. The party stated that the timetable would be released when the leadership contest process began on Thursday 14 July, but the timetable was leaked immediately following the NEC meeting. The voting eligibility freeze date for membership was 12 January 2016 – those who joined after that date would have to pay £25 to sign up as a registered supporter in the two-day window during the week of 18 July. Members of affiliated trade unions, socialist societies and other affiliated organisations who individually signed up as an "affiliated supporter" to the Labour Party must have been a member of that organisation on or before 12 January 2016; those already on the Party's membership system would be eligible to vote, subject to reconfirming their eligibility. Many people had sought to join organisations such as UNITE to gain a vote without paying Labour's £25 "registered supporter" fee; and a Labour source reported that "Affiliated supporters who join between now and 8 August are expected to be able to vote..." However, the NEC decided that the freeze date for voter eligibility was also to apply to "affiliated supporters", so this route would not be a way to gain a vote after the freeze date.