Third of Labour members want next Labour leader to be a woman – poll

Almost a third of Labour members want the next Labour leader to be a woman, according to a new LabourList poll.

The poll, conducted by Survation, found that 32 percent of Labour members think the party’s next leader should be a woman, compared to 61 percent who said the gender of the next Labour leader does not matter. Some eight percent were unsure.

It comes amid a continuing debate within the party about women in leadership roles.

Party grandee and peer Harriet Harman has suggested that Labour should prevent male candidates from standing in the next leadership contest to ensure the party has its first female leader.

Speaking on Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Harman said: “The only way we’ll have a woman leader of the Labour Party next time is if we start a conversation now where we say that men cannot stand for the leadership next time.

“What we need to do is for women’s ambition to be encouraged and male ambition to be the next leader of the Labour Party to be discouraged.”

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Meanwhile, in the Scottish Labour leadership contest, contender Monica Lennon has hit out at “misogyny and male entitlement” in the campaign.

In a post on social media, she said: “We can’t accuse others of cronyism if we operate like a private members’ club, playing personal and factional ties above principles and the country. We must debate big ideas, find our backbone and rediscover boldness.

“This ‘contest reeks of misogyny and male entitlement. That’s the road to nowhere. We’re not here for a social life or to win an occasional debate. We were created to win power for working class communities and lead in government, not from the gutter.

“I’ve never feared a contest; it’s necessary. Why do men expect a coronation or a ballot without women?”

Last week, The Herald reported accusations that frontrunner Michael Marra had been making “serious attempts” to keep Lennon off the ballot by briefing Labour parliamentarians against her.

Pauline McNeill and Tracy Gilbert, co-chairs of Marra’s campaign, told the newspaper: “The last thing the party needs is for a culture of negative anonymous quotes and briefings to continue – party members deserve better than this. We would urge all campaigns to dissociate themselves from that behaviour.”

Emma Burnell, editor of LabourList, said: “It remains a stain on the Labour Party’s reputation as the party of equality that we have failed to ever elect a woman as leader. This is not a comment on any of the men who are or have led the party, but on the overall culture that appears to be reinforcing this glass ceiling.

“However, questions of what can – or should – be done to ensure a future female leader are more complicated. Any attempt to impose an all-women leadership race would inevitably lead to bad feeling and resentment and would also risk unfairly delegitimising the eventual winner.

“As Andy Burnham and new Labour Chair Bridget Phillipson look at issues around Party culture, there should be more work done to ensure that this culture enables women to shine in their own right. This means tackling ‘boys club’ briefings from the Cabinet to the branch meeting, supporting a wider array of candidates to stand for office and supporting greater work to proactively raise the profile of women in the Party as leaders.”

Survation, a member of the British Polling Council and a Market Research Society Partner, surveyed 812 readers of LabourList who also said they were Labour Party members between July 24 and 27.

Data was weighted to the profile of party members by age, sex, region and 2025 deputy leadership vote. Targets for weighting were drawn from the British Election Study and the results of the leadership and deputy leadership elections.

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