{"text":[[{"start":7.25,"text":"Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to resign as UK prime minister and Labour Party leader, after dismal local election results and an ongoing scandal surrounding the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington. "}],[{"start":21.2,"text":"How could he be replaced? "}],[{"start":23.099999999999998,"text":"How do Labour leadership challenges start? "}],[{"start":26.299999999999997,"text":"Labour MPs do not have the power to remove their party leader themselves, unlike Conservative MPs, who can hold a binding confidence vote to bring their leader’s term to an immediate end. "}],[{"start":37.199999999999996,"text":"Under the party’s rules, a potential new leader must secure nominations from 20 per cent of the party’s MPs — equating to 81 at the moment — and backing from either 5 per cent of local Labour parties or three party affiliates, two of which must be trade unions. "}],[{"start":53.5,"text":"Once a candidate has met those criteria, they enter a process overseen by the party’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), which sets the timetable and formally launches the contest. "}],[{"start":65.6,"text":"An official revolt against a sitting prime minister has never taken place in Labour’s 126-year history. Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown both stepped aside under intense pressure from MPs before rebellions could be launched. "}],[{"start":80.44999999999999,"text":"Who gets to choose the new leader? "}],[{"start":82.79999999999998,"text":"Once a leadership challenge is triggered, the serving Labour leader, if they choose to run, goes immediately into a full election campaign against the other candidate or candidates. "}],[{"start":93.54999999999998,"text":"If they do not choose to run, the contest becomes an open race, with party members choosing the new leader by ballot unless only one candidate qualifies."}],[{"start":103.74999999999999,"text":"At this point control passes out of Westminster: the final decision on who should take the helm is made not just by MPs but party members, who take part in a one-member-one-vote ballot. "}],[{"start":116.44999999999999,"text":"The electorate for this final vote consists of Labour’s direct membership, which stood at 333,235 people at the end of 2024, plus “affiliated members” such as trade unions. "}],[{"start":130.2,"text":"This system gives Labour’s grassroots the power to override MPs’ preferences, as they did in 2015 when hard-left candidate Jeremy Corbyn stormed to victory despite senior party figures warning against his election. "}],[{"start":143.45,"text":"In practice, it means that even a leader who has lost the confidence of most Labour MPs can survive — as Corbyn did in 2016 — if they retain the backing of the party membership. "}],[{"start":154.54999999999998,"text":"How long does the process take?"}],[{"start":157.2,"text":"There is no fixed timetable for a Labour leadership challenge. Once a contest is triggered, the NEC sets the schedule: it decides when nominations open and close, how long the campaign lasts and when the ballot is held. "}],[{"start":171.6,"text":"Nico Fitzroy, a political analyst at Signum Global Advisors, said splits inside Labour about whether it should turn to the left or to the right and the lack of a clear successor could make for an acrimonious race. "}],[{"start":184.79999999999998,"text":"“There is no obvious unity candidate to replace Starmer so there would likely be a tense and divisive contest if Starmer goes,” he said. "}],[{"start":193.24999999999997,"text":"Last autumn’s contest to find a new deputy Labour leader — after former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner resigned both positions — took roughly six weeks. "}],[{"start":202.49999999999997,"text":"Could Starmer be forced out by other means? "}],[{"start":205.69999999999996,"text":"Labour MPs could consider other mechanisms beyond the formal challenge process to oust Starmer, who replaced Corbyn as party leader in 2020. "}],[{"start":214.84999999999997,"text":"If close cabinet allies “said he was the liability for the party, that would force him out”, said Colin Taylor, a professor at the University of Hull."}],[{"start":224.09999999999997,"text":"Until Thursday’s local elections, the most senior party figure to call for Starmer’s resignation was Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar in February. Sarwar said on Friday that he stood by that call, but he did not reiterate it."}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":null,"text":"