Labour deputy leadership contest: How does it work and who is eligible to vote?
The Labour Party is holding an election for Angela Rayner's successor, who resigned after admitting underpaying tax on a new home. So how will the contest work?
Tuesday 9 September 2025 12:27, UK
A contest to become the next deputy leader of the Labour Party is under way after Angela Rayner resigned from the role - and from cabinet.
She quit after admitting in an interview with our political editor Beth Rigby for the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that she underpaid the taxes due on a new property near Brighton.
The contest to succeed her is well under way, with MPs from across the party putting themselves forward.
Tap here for the latest on the deputy leadership contest in our Politics Hub
Labour's governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), agreed the process and timetable for the deputy leadership contest three days after Ms Rayner's resignation.
Below is the process that was decided, which will last until 25 October.
Stage one - getting nominations from MPs
The first stage in the deputy leadership contest was about getting enough support from fellow members of the Labour Parliamentary Party (MPs) to get through to the next stage.
Potential candidates had to secure the backing of at least 20 per cent of Labour MPs - equivalent to 80 MPs.
Labour MPs were not able to support more than one candidate - they could either nominate themselves or one of their colleagues.
Six Labour MPs put themselves forward by the time this stage closed at at 5pm on Thursday 11 September. But, three withdrew, while the party confirmed that only two MPs had managed to gather sufficient support.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and former leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell, have moved forward to stage two.
Ms Phillipson received the backing of 175 MPs, while Ms Powell was supported by 117.
Stage two - getting nominations from local parties and unions
The second stage of the contest is getting support from Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs - local Labour parties) and affiliates of the party.
Ms Phillipson and Ms Powell must each secure nominations from at least five per cent of CLPs - or at least three affiliates (at least two of which must be trade union affiliates) comprising five per cent of fully paid-up affiliated party members.
The deadline to secure the necessary support is Saturday 27 September.
The Labour Party's annual conference begins the next day, where the candidates who have secured the required backing will be able to make their pitches directly to members in a final hustings.
Stage three - party membership vote
From Wednesday 8 October, Labour Party members will then be able to cast their ballots for their choice of deputy leader.
The ballot will take place via electronic voting, and those without email addresses will be sent postal ballots. Labour Party members with at least six months continuous membership will be eligible to vote, as well as members of applicable trade unions for at least that same period who have opted in to the political levy (where applicable).
Read more:
Would-be Labour deputies woo the unions in Brighton
Rayner 'won't get involved' in race to choose successor
Labour 'failing to deliver change that people voted for'
Each eligible member will get one vote, and the party is using the single preferential voting system.
This means that voters rank the candidates in order of preference on the ballot paper. If no candidate receives 50 per cent of the vote once first preferences are counted, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their second preference votes are redistributed amongst the remaining candidates. This process continues until one candidate passes the 50 per cent threshold.
However, as there are only two MPs left in the race, this will not be an issue.
The latest data on the membership of the Labour Party was published at the end of 2024, and it showed that it is the largest political party, with 333,235 members.
The ballot will close at 12pm on Thursday 23 October.
Announcement of the winner
The winner will be announced two days after the close of the vote, on Saturday 25 October.
The party has not yet said how it intends to announce the result, but it is expected that there will be an event where the declaration will be made.
The winner will immediately become deputy leader of the Labour Party - but they are not expected to be appointed deputy prime minister, with Downing Street having made clear that David Lammy has been given that position. It is also not clear if they will be given a job in government.
Tap here to follow the very latest on the deputy leadership contest.