As Sir Keir Starmer braces for a potential leadership challenge, the field of potential candidates has started to widen.
All eyes in Westminster are on Wes Streeting and whether he will quit his role as Health Secretary, along with former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, who has now been cleared of wrongdoing by HMRC over her tax affairs.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s quest for a seat so he can enter the fray will also occupy minds in SW1, but several less likely names are now being discussed as potential challengers should a contest be triggered.
Here, The i Paper looks at the unlikely leadership candidates that could take a tilt at the top job…
Energy Secretary – and former Labour leader – Ed Miliband
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has previously said he would never consider launching another bid to head the party, insisting he’d “been there, got the t-shirt”.
Having lost the 2015 general election, Miliband resigned as leader, and that was considered the end of his ambitions to run the country.
But Miliband’s supporters have been forced to admit in recent days that should Burnham fail to secure a seat to enter any leadership race, the Energy Secretary would feel duty-bound to throw his hat in the ring as the candidate from the soft Left of the party in opposition to Streeting.
Lesser-known ex-Royal Marine Al Carns
Armed Forces minister Al Carns is a relative unknown in the conversation as to who could challenge Starmer.
Sources have insisted Carns will stand in any contest should the starting gun be fired in the coming days.
A former Colonel in the Royal Marines who served in the elite Special Boat Service, Carns boasts an impressive CV and could have a broad appeal to the electorate.
Armed Forces minister Al Carns carrying out reserve training alongside British Commando Forces in Norway. Despite being a political novice, he has done little to dampen any leadership speculation (Photo: Leon Neal/Getty)But in political terms, the Scotsman is a relative novice and the party and its membership may feel rolling the dice on another leader without the political experience after Starmer may be too risky.
It has also been suggested that Carns might drop out of a leadership contest after his profile has been raised, before lobbying the most likely victor for the role of Defence Secretary.
Leadership contest veteran Yvette Cooper
Having already contested a leadership election and failed, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has been largely overlooked in the fevered speculation that has gripped Westminster.
But several senior Labour sources have insisted that Cooper would consider entering the race, should a full leadership contest begin.
Having served in the Cabinet in two Labour governments, the Foreign Secretary is perhaps one of the most experienced figures in the party.
But questions remain over her ability to lead and there are significant doubts as to whether she would be able to garner the number of MPs needed to enter the fray.
‘Steady pair of hands’ John Healey
From a similar mould as Cooper, Defence Secretary John Healey has his admirers as a steady pair of hands and a wise head, having also served in two Labour administrations.
He was briefly tipped as a potential caretaker prime minister should Starmer decide to step down.
Whether he would be able to accumulate the numbers to enter the race remains doubtful, however, but there are claims that he has sounded out MPs for their backing in the event of a contest.
Defence Secretary John Healey and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper take a selfie during a visit to Royal Navy carrier HMS Prince of Wales in Naples, Italy (Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA)A representative of the Socialist Campaign Group
An MP from the left of the party has usually stood in any leadership contest in a bid to widen the debate.
This delivered a surprise outcome in 2015 when it was Jeremy Corbyn’s turn to stand as the group’s candidate only to win, beating the likes of Burnham and Cooper.
Corbyn is no longer in the Labour Party, and Rebecca Long-Bailey lost to Starmer in 2020.
Whoever is next – Dawn Butler? Nadia Whittome? – will be upholding a tradition going back to the early 1980s.
Hence then, the article about the surprise names who could run in a labour leadership race was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( The surprise names who could run in a Labour leadership race )
Also on site :