Sir Keir Starmer is on course to cruise to victory in the Labour leadership race with a new poll showing he could win 53% of votes with Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy trailing far behind
- Sir Keir Starmer is the overwhelming favourite in the Labour leadership contest
- A new YouGov poll suggests the frontrunner is on course for a crushing victory
- He is on 53 per cent, Ms Long-Bailey on 31 per cent and Ms Nandy on 16 per cent
- Numbers suggest shadow Brexit secretary could win the contest in first round
Sir Keir Starmer is on course for a crushing victory in the Labour leadership contest, according to a new YouGov poll of party members.
The shadow Brexit secretary is predicted to get 53 per cent of votes in the first round of counting which would be enough for him to surpass the 50 per cent threshold needed to win the race to replace Jeremy Corbyn.
His rivals Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy are on 31 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.
The leadership battle will use an alternative vote system with activists asked to rank the candidates in order of preference, which can lead to multiple rounds of voting.
But the new survey, conducted by YouGov for Sky News, shows that Sir Keir could canter to victory in the first round, meaning second preference votes would not need to be allocated.
A YouGov poll for Sky News suggests Sir Keir Starmer is cruising to victory in the Labour leadership race
The poll shows Sir Keir, pictured at a leadership hustings in Durham on February 23, could win 53 per cent of the vote in the first round of counting
The numbers represent a massive boost to Sir Keir’s campaign but they are likely to spark warnings from his allies against complacency.
He was ahead of Ms Long-Bailey among most groups polled, including men, women, the young, old, trade unionists and Remain supporters.
Ms Long-Bailey – the Corbynista candidate – was only ahead among Labour Brexiteers and supporters of hard Left organisation Momentum.
The publication of the poll numbers comes after Sadiq Khan, the Labour Mayor of London, formally announced he is backing Sir Keir.
Mr Khan tweeted this morning: ‘I will be voting for Keir Starmer to be the next Labour leader. I’ve known Keir for decades. He’s the best person to unite our party, take the fight to the Tories and put Labour in government.’
Sir Keir is viewed as the prohibitive favourite in the Labour leadership race with Ms Long-Bailey seen as the candidate most likely to challenge him.
But the poll numbers suggest the shadow business secretary, as well as Ms Nandy, are facing a massive battle if they are to make the race into a real contest.
Voting started on Monday this week but does not close until April 2, giving all three candidates plenty of time to make up ground – or lose it.
The YouGov poll puts Rebecca Long-Bailey in second place on 31 per cent with Lisa Nandy in third on 16 per cent
The winner of the race will be announced at a special event on April 4.
The YouGov poll of 1,323 Labour members, affiliates and supporters also looked at the deputy leadership contest.
It suggests that Angela Rayner is the clear front runner in the race but that she would not win in the first round of vote counting.
The survey puts her on 47 per cent, Richard Burgon on 19 per cent, Rosena Allin-Khan on 13 per cent, Dawn Butler on 12 per cent and Ian Murray on nine per cent.
The numbers suggest that Ms Rayner would win the contest in the second round of vote counting after the last finishing candidate is eliminated and their second preference votes are reallocated.