Richard Burgon announces deputy leadership bid

Labour’s Richard Burgon has announced that he will be putting himself forward to become the party’s next deputy leader.

The Shadow Secretary of State for Justice tweeted this afternoon to say that after discussions with others in the party, he had decided to stand.

Burgon is the MP for Leeds East and was first elected to parliament in 2015. The vote earlier this month saw his majority halved to 5,531.

Prior to becoming an MP, Burgon worked as a solicitor. He specialised in employment rights for ten years at Thompsons Solicitors.

Burgon was one of the 48 in the parliamentary Labour party that defied the whip and voted against the Welfare Bill during the 2015 leadership contest.

He was also one of 36 MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn in 2015, and he nominated Corbyn as leader again during the 2016 contest with Owen Smith.

The Leeds East MP was made Shadow Economic Secretary before being promoted to be Shadow Justice Secretary and Shadow Lord Chancellor in June 2016.

In making his announcement, he shared an article in which he set out his thoughts on why Labour lost so and how the party rebuilds, promising to outline more in the new year.

Shadow minister for equalities and women, Dawn Butler, has also announced her intention to stand, as has Khalid Mahmood.

Angela Rayner is considered to be the favourite in the deputy leadership race, despite having not yet declared her candidacy, while Corbyn critic and Scotland’s only Labour MP Ian Murray is also thinking of running.