Momentum backs Rebecca Long-Bailey to be next Labour leader - but just 12.5% of members vote for her

Rebecca Long-Bailey at Labour Party conference. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) - Credit: Getty Images

Momentum has said its members have overwhelmingly backed Rebecca Long-Bailey for Labour leader – but only a tiny proportion of members had a say.

The campaign group said 70.42% of respondents to a ballot voted to throw resources behind Long-Bailey in the contest – equivalent to 4,995 members.

But that works out at just 12.5% of a membership which was reported to have totalled 40,000 last year.

Members also backed Angela Rayner for deputy leader with 52.15% of the vote – suggesting that others could have backed Richard Burgon as the alternative choice.

Shadow business secretary Long-Bailey said: “Momentum members alongside hundreds of thousands of other Labour members worked day and night across the country to elect a Labour government last December, knocking on millions of doors.

“I am proud and beyond grateful to be backed by an organisation that has revolutionised how we campaign. I will deliver on the trust Momentum members have placed in me, with a plan to win the next general election and transform our country for the future.”

Some claimed the process was rigged because it only allowed one vote for each contest, rather than a version of the alternative vote like the actual Labour leadership voting process.