Labour Party leadership of Jeremy Corbyn

Labour Party leadership of Jeremy Corbyn 12 September 2015 – 4 April 2020
Premier	David Cameron Theresa May Boris Johnson
Cabinet	Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn
Party	Labour
Election	2015
Appointed by	Elizabeth II
← Ed Miliband Keir Starmer →

The Labour Party leadership of Jeremy Corbyn began when Jeremy Corbyn was elected as Leader of the Labour Party in September 2015, following the resignation of Ed Miliband after Labour's defeat at the 2015 general election. Disillusioned by a lack of a left-wing voice in the 2015 leadership contest, Corbyn stood on an anti-austerity platform. Of the candidates who stood, Corbyn received the fewest parliamentary nominations. Many who nominated him said they had done so not to support his candidacy, but to widen the debate by including a socialist voice. However, Corbyn soon became the frontrunner and was elected with a landslide of 59%.

This article is part of a series about Jeremy Corbyn
Political positions Democratic socialism Nationalisation Electoral history MP for Islington North CND AAM StWC Backbencher Islington North in the 1983 general election Socialist Campaign Group Islington North in the 2024 general election Leader of the Opposition and Labour Party Leadership 2015 election campaign Shadow Cabinet 2016 mass resignations 2016 re-election Antisemitism in the Labour Party Antisemitism report Corbynmania Economic Advisory Committee Elections 2016 local elections 2017 local elections 2017 general election 2018 local elections 2019 local elections 2019 European elections 2019 general election Cultural depictions Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics Comrade Corbyn: A Very Unlikely Coup Oh Jeremy Corbyn: the big lie Jeremy Corbyn: Accidental Hero Dangerous Hero Personal life Honours and awards
v t e

Corbyn appointed John McDonnell as Shadow Chancellor and promoted several female backbenchers, forming a Shadow Cabinet that for the first time had more women than men. Under Corbyn's leadership, Labour shifted to the left from the centre-ground. In November 2015, he voted against British military involvement in the Syrian civil war. He also opposed the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system and apologised for the Tony Blair ministry taking the UK into the Iraq War. In spite of his victory, Corbyn enjoyed little support from Labour MPs, although his support remained strong amongst Labour Party members. In 2016, Labour were widely criticised in the media for their apparent poor performance in local elections; despite this, they had won 34.1% of the PCC vote against the Conservatives’ 30%, they lost 18 councillors to the Conservatives’ loss of 48, Labour government control was retained in Wales, and Labour achieved a clean sweep of the mayoralties of London, Bristol, Liverpool, and Salford. Following the European Union membership referendum, in which Britain voted to leave the European Union, party opponents accused Corbyn of running a lukewarm campaign for the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign; one major opponent, Angela Eagle, cited his lack of devotion to the Remain cause while simultaneously observing the energetic and itinerant means by which his campaign was conducted. Several resigned from the Shadow Cabinet and Corbyn lost a motion of no confidence by 197–40. Eagle and Owen Smith launched a formal challenge, although Eagle later withdrew and endorsed Smith. Corbyn was re-elected with a marginally higher majority of 61%, the largest leadership election majority of any Labour leader in history.

Although Labour suffered poor results at the local elections in May 2017, at the snap 2017 general election the party secured 40% of the vote with the biggest increase in Labour vote share for 72 years, and forced the Conservatives to form a minority government, with Labour remaining in opposition. In the 2018 local elections, Labour increased its share of the vote. In the 2019 local elections, Labour's seat total dropped by 84. In the 2019 European Parliament election, Labour came third behind the Brexit Party and the Liberal Democrats. In the 2019 general election, Labour's vote share dropped to 32%, winning the lowest number of seats since 1935. The result led to Corbyn's announcement that he would stand down as Labour leader. Some reasons for the defeat included concerns about Corbyn's leadership, the party's "ambiguous" position on Brexit, and concerns that the commitments in the left-wing manifesto were "undeliverable".^[1][2]

Corbyn remained Labour leader for four months while the leadership election to replace him took place. His resignation as Labour leader formally took effect in April 2020 following the election of Keir Starmer. During his tenure as leader, Corbyn came under criticism in relation to antisemitism within the Labour Party. Corbyn has condemned antisemitism^[3] and apologised for its presence within the party,^[4] while his leadership oversaw changes to strengthen party disciplinary procedures regarding hate speech and racism as recommended by the 2016 Chakrabarti Inquiry.^[5] An internal 2020 report and the subsequent 2022 Forde Report noted that Corbyn's team inherited a dysfunctional disciplinary system which eventually improved under General Secretary Jennie Formby, and stated that antisemitism was used as a factional weapon by both opponents and supporters of Corbyn within the party. A 2020 Equality and Human Rights Commission inquiry into the matter found the party under his leadership was responsible for unlawful acts of discrimination and harassment.^[6][7]