What next for the Labour left?

With the new leader declaring a ‘new era’ for the party, Ashley Cowburn looks at the future of Corbyn’s allies

New broom: few from the Corbyn era will make Starmer’s top team (Getty)

As the results of Labour’s protracted leadership contest were announced at 10.45am on Saturday, it became clear the left’s preferred candidate, Rebecca Long-Bailey, had been emphatically defeated. Among the 14,700 registered supporters – those who joined to participate in the party’s ballot – just 650 individuals voted for the shadow business secretary, who has been a key ally of Jeremy Corbyn in recent years.

Across all sections of the party’s internal electorate, including party members, registered supporters and affiliated organisation, Keir Starmer secured a convincing majority with an overall vote share of 56.2 per cent. In his victory video, the new leader declared a “new era” for the party. So what now, for the Labour left?

Corbyn, alongside his close allies shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow home secretary Diane Abbott – both totemic figures of the Labour left in recent years – will now return to the parliamentary backbenches they occupied for decades before his landslide leadership victory in the summer of 2015.