How Labour’s 2020 leadership elections will work – party rules in full

The basis of Labour’s process for holding leadership and deputy leadership elections can be found in Chapter 4 of the party rulebook. But that’s just the outline.

Labour’s national executive committee, which is responsible for ensuring that proper procedures are followed, has drawn up guidance that offers essential reading for anyone wanting to get to grips with the finer details.

The first stage for both contests will be MP and MEP nominations, of which they must gain 10%. The candidates who pass that threshold proceed to the second stage, which requires nominations from 5% of local parties or three affiliates comprising 5% of affiliated membership.

Local parties are compelled to hold all-member meetings – rather than general committee (GC) ones – where paid-up members will vote in rounds for their preferred leader and deputy leadership candidates. The first to win 50% of the vote is nominated by that local party. For the first time ever, this nomination really matters.

The final stage of the process sees full party members, affiliated members and registered supporters vote by preferential ballot in a single round. If nobody receives more than 50% of the vote on first preferences, the candidate with the lowest number of votes has theirs redistributed. This is repeated until the winner reaches the threshold.

Read the full procedure and timetable guide for Labour’s leadership and deputy elections 2020 in full.