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Harriet Harman (acting);
previously Ed Miliband
The 2015 Labour Party leadership election was won by Jeremy Corbyn with a landslide victory. The election was triggered by the resignation of Ed Miliband as Leader of the Labour Party on 8 May 2015, following the party's defeat at the 2015 general election. Harriet Harman, the Deputy Leader, became Acting Leader but announced that she would stand down after the leadership election.
Four candidates were successfully nominated to stand in the election: Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Jeremy Corbyn, and Liz Kendall. The voting process began on Friday 14 August 2015 and closed on Thursday 10 September 2015, and the results were announced on Saturday 12 September 2015. Voting was by Labour Party members and registered and affiliated supporters, using the alternative vote system.
Support for Corbyn, who entered the race as the dark horse candidate, and the release of opinion polls which showed him leading the race, led to high profile interventions by a number of prominent Labour figures including Gordon Brown,Tony Blair,Jack Straw,David Miliband, and Alastair Campbell, among others, many of whom claimed that Corbyn's election as leader would leave the party unelectable. Nonetheless he was elected in a landslide in the first round, with 59.5% of the votes, winning a solid mandate, and all three sections of the ballot. Less than a year later, the party headed into a second leadership election, where Corbyn again won in a landslide victory with an increased share of the vote, 61.8%.