2010 Labour Party leadership election (UK)

Under Labour Party rules, trade unions were allowed to make recommendations to their members, but were barred from doing this in the same envelope that contained the ballot paper. During the election, it emerged that both the GMB and Unite had included both an envelope containing the ballot paper, and an envelope containing promotional material for Ed Miliband, their favoured candidate, in the same communication. Though the promotional material was in a different envelope from the ballot paper, this nevertheless attracted criticism that they had breached the spirit of the rules.[11][12]

Candidates must receive nominations from at least 12.5 per cent of the 257 Parliamentary Labour Party members (33) to appear on the ballot. John McDonnell had 16 nominations when he withdrew on 9 June, in favour of Diane Abbott.[23] The final nominations figures were as follows:[24]

The number of MPs next to the candidate's name below includes the actual candidate too, as they counted as one of the 33 MPs needed (except for David Miliband, as he nominated Diane Abbott to ensure her appearance on the ballot). Public nominations for candidates by MPs were as follows:[25]

• David Miliband (81): Bob Ainsworth, Douglas Alexander, Willie Bain, Gordon Banks, Hugh Bayley, Stuart Bell, Ben Bradshaw, Russell Brown, Richard Burden, Liam Byrne, David Cairns, Alan Campbell, Jenny Chapman, Ann Clwyd, Ann Coffey, Rosie Cooper, Mary Creagh, Stella Creasy, Alex Cunningham, Simon Danczuk, Alistair Darling, Gloria De Piero, Brian Donohoe, Gemma Doyle, Angela Eagle, Julie Elliott, Louise Ellman, Chris Evans, Jim Fitzpatrick, Caroline Flint, Paul Flynn, Mike Gapes, Barry Gardiner, Pat Glass, Mary Glindon, Fabian Hamilton, David Hanson, Tom Harris, Mark Hendrick, Margaret Hodge, George Howarth, Tristram Hunt, Alan Johnson, Tessa Jowell, Gerald Kaufman, Liz Kendall, Ivan Lewis, Michael McCann, Gregg McClymont, Siobhain McDonagh, Pat McFadden, Anne McGuire, Ian Mearns, Alun Michael, Jessica Morden, Meg Munn, Jim Murphy, Ian Murray, Pamela Nash, Fiona O'Donnell, Toby Perkins, Bridget Phillipson, Yasmin Qureshi, Nick Raynsford, Jamie Reed, Jonathan Reynolds, Frank Roy, Chris Ruane, Anas Sarwar, Virendra Sharma, Barry Sheerman, Angela Smith, Nick Smith, Peter Soulsby, Graham Stringer, Mark Tami, Gareth Thomas, Valerie Vaz, Phil Wilson, John Woodcock, Shaun Woodward
• Ed Miliband (63): Adrian Bailey, Margaret Beckett, Anne Begg, Hilary Benn, Luciana Berger, Roberta Blackman-Woods, Paul Blomfield, Karen Buck, Margaret Curran, Wayne David, Geraint Davies, John Denham, Frank Dobson, Jack Dromey, Maria Eagle, Clive Efford, Natascha Engel, Bill Esterson, Frank Field, Hywel Francis, Helen Goodman, Tom Greatrex, Lilian Greenwood, Peter Hain, David Hamilton, Jimmy Hood, Graham Jones, Susan Jones, Sadiq Khan, Ian Lavery, Mark Lazarowicz, Andy Love, Ian Lucas, Shabana Mahmood, John Mann, Gordon Marsden, Jim McGovern, Ann McKechin, Catherine McKinnell, Michael Meacher, Alan Meale, Madeleine Moon, Grahame Morris, Paul Murphy, Lisa Nandy, Sandra Osborne, Albert Owen, Stephen Pound, Rachel Reeves, Emma Reynolds, Lindsay Roy, Joan Ruddock, Alison Seabeck, Jim Sheridan, Andy Slaughter, Owen Smith, Emily Thornberry, Stephen Timms, Chuka Umunna, Alan Whitehead, Christopher Williamson, Rosie Winterton
• Ed Balls (33): David Anderson, Ian Austin, Tom Blenkinsop, Kevin Brennan, Lyn Brown, Vernon Coaker, Yvette Cooper, David Crausby, Jim Cunningham, Jim Dobbin, Mike Dugher, Andrew Gwynne, John Healey, Stephen Hepburn, Sharon Hodgson, Diana Johnson, Helen Jones, Eric Joyce, Barbara Keeley, Chris Leslie, Khalid Mahmood, Steve McCabe, Kerry McCarthy, Teresa Pearce, John Robertson, Geoffrey Robinson, Marsha Singh, Andrew Smith, John Spellar, Tom Watson, David Wright, Iain Wright
• Andy Burnham (33): Heidi Alexander, Kevin Barron, Joe Benton, Clive Betts, Hazel Blears, David Blunkett, Tom Clarke, Michael Connarty, Nic Dakin, Thomas Docherty, Frank Doran, Paul Farrelly, Rob Flello, Yvonne Fovargue, Paul Goggins, Kate Green, Julie Hilling, Lindsay Hoyle, Huw Irranca-Davies, Cathy Jamieson, Kevan Jones, Alan Keen, Alison McGovern, Andrew Miller, Austin Mitchell, Steve Rotheram, Gerry Sutcliffe, Karl Turner, Derek Twigg, Joan Walley, Dave Watts, Malcolm Wicks
• Diane Abbott (33): Rushanara Ali, Chris Bryant, Ronnie Campbell, Katy Clark, Jeremy Corbyn, Jon Cruddas, John Cryer, Ian Davidson, Sheila Gilmore, Nia Griffith, Harriet Harman, Meg Hillier, Kate Hoey, Kelvin Hopkins, Sian James, David Lammy, Tony Lloyd, Denis MacShane, Fiona MacTaggart, John McDonnell, David Miliband, George Mudie, Chi Onwurah, Linda Riordan, Gavin Shuker, Dennis Skinner, Jack Straw, Jon Trickett, Stephen Twigg, Keith Vaz, Mike Wood, Phil Woolas

Before dropping out of the race on 9 June 2010, John McDonnell had the following 16 nominations: Ronnie Campbell, Martin Caton, Katy Clark, Jeremy Corbyn, John Cryer, Ian Davidson, Jim Dowd, Frank Field, Dai Havard, Kate Hoey, Ian Lavery, Graeme Morrice, Linda Riordan, Dennis Skinner, Mike Wood[26]

Some members of parliament were seen as potential candidates but decided against running:

• Hazel Blears[27] – former Communities and Local Government Secretary; supported Andy Burnham
• Yvette Cooper[28] – former Work and Pensions Secretary; supported her husband Ed Balls[29]
• Jon Cruddas[28] – backbencher who stood for Deputy Leader in 2007; he nominated Diane Abbott[30] and supported David Miliband[31]
• Alistair Darling[28] – former Chancellor of the Exchequer; supported David Miliband[32][33]
• Peter Hain[34] – former Wales Secretary, previously Northern Ireland and Work and Pensions Secretary; supported Ed Miliband[34]
• Harriet Harman[28] – acting leader following Gordon Brown's departure, former Leader of the House of Commons; neutral but nominated Diane Abbott[35]
• Alan Johnson[28] – former Home Secretary, previously Health Secretary and Education Secretary; supported David Miliband[36]
• Jack Straw[28] – former Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor, previously Foreign and Home Secretary; nominated Diane Abbott[37] and supported David Miliband[38]

First round

Candidate		MPs/MEPs (33.3%)		Labour Party members (33.3%)		Affiliated members (33.3%)		Overall result
		Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	%
	David Miliband	111	41.7	55,905	44.1	58,189	27.5	37.8
	Ed Miliband	84	31.6	37,980	29.9	87,585	41.5	34.3
	Ed Balls	40	15.0	12,831	10.1	21,618	10.2	11.8
	Andy Burnham	24	9.0	10,844	8.5	17,904	8.5	8.7
	Diane Abbott N	7	2.6	9,314	7.3	25,938	12.3	7.4

The total of first-round votes for Balls, Burnham, and Abbott (27.89%) was less than Ed Miliband's vote (34.33%). Thus, it was certain after the first round that Balls, Burnham, and Abbott would all be eliminated.

Second round

Candidate		MPs/MEPs (33.3%)		Labour Party members (33.3%)		Affiliated members (33.3%)		Overall result
		Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	%
	David Miliband	111	42.0	57,128	45.2	61,336	29.4	38.9
	Ed Miliband	88	33.3	42,176	33.4	95,335	45.7	37.5
	Ed Balls	41	15.5	14,510	11.5	26,441	12.7	13.2
	Andy Burnham N	24	9.1	12,498	9.9	25,528	12.2	10.4

Third round

Candidate		MPs/MEPs (33.3%)		Labour Party members (33.3%)		Affiliated members (33.3%)		Overall result
		Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	%
	David Miliband	125	47.3	60,375	48.2	66,889	32.6	42.7
	Ed Miliband	96	36.4	46,697	37.3	102,882	50.1	41.3
	Ed Balls N	43	16.3	18,114	14.5	35,512	17.3	16.0

Fourth round

Candidate		MPs/MEPs (33.3%)		Labour Party members (33.3%)		Affiliated members (33.3%)		Overall result
		Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	%
	Ed Miliband Y	122	46.6	55,992	45.6	119,405	59.8	50.7
	David Miliband	140	53.4	66,814	54.4	80,266	40.2	49.3

Turnout in the members section was 71.7%, with 127,330 votes cast of the 177,558 ballots distributed.[42] Amongst affiliated members, turnout was 9.0%, whilst amongst MPs/MEPs turnout was 98.5%.[43]

[44]

The map below shows the results of the Constituency Labour Parties first round preferences in the leadership election by constituency, before votes were transferred due to eliminations. David Miliband took the most constituencies, winning 577 in total. He was followed by Ed Miliband who took sixty-seven constituencies. Andy Burnham won eight seats, all in north-west England, Ed Balls took two constituencies (his own, Morley & Outwood, and that of his wife, Yvette Cooper, Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford), and Diane Abbott won no constituencies. All ties with the exception of Wigan (Burnham and David Miliband) were between David and Ed Miliband. Northern Ireland was counted as one constituency.[42]

Green indicates constituencies won by David Miliband, light blue for Ed Miliband, pink for Andy Burnham, yellow for Ed Balls and white for a tie. (Click to enlarge)

Turnout in the affiliates section was 9.0%, with 247,339 votes cast of the 2,747,030 ballots distributed.[45]

• Factbox – Rules governing Labour leadership elections Reuters, 10 May 2010
• Labour party leadership The Guardian

• Labour Party
• Labour Party Rule Book 2008 (PDF)

• Diane Abbott: Diane 4 Leader – Turn the page, change the party
• Andy Burnham – Re-connecting Labour
• Ed Balls for Labour Leader
• David Miliband – Bringing Labour together leading Labour to power Archived 17 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine
• Ed Miliband for Labour Leader