Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 2016
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| Turnout | 506,438 (77.6%) |
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The British Labour Party leadership election of 2016 was called when a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party arose following criticism of his allegedly weak support for the Remain campaign in the referendum on membership of the European Union.
After a period of tension over Corbyn's leadership, the immediate trigger to events was the Leave result of the referendum. Hilary Benn, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, was sacked by Corbyn on 25 June after Benn expressed no confidence in him. More than two dozen members of the Shadow Cabinet resigned over the following two days, and a no-confidence vote was supported by 172 MPs in the Parliamentary Labour Party, against 40 supporting Corbyn. It was reported that Tom Watson, the Deputy Leader, told Corbyn that he would face a challenge to his position as leader. Corbyn stated that he would not resign.
By the end of June, Angela Eagle and Owen Smith were being promoted as intending to contest the leadership. Eagle announced her candidacy on 11 July, and Smith did likewise on 13 July. The National Executive Committee decided that, as the incumbent, Corbyn would be automatically included on the ballot without requiring nominations from the parliamentary party; some political analysts had previously predicted that Corbyn would struggle to obtain the requisite number of signatures had that been required.
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