Labour sets a date for announcing its new leader

Labour’s new leader will be announced at a special conference on 4 April, the party has said.

The timetable for the contest to succeed Jeremy Corbyn was agreed at a meeting of the party’s ruling National Executive Committee on Monday 6 January.

A party spokesperson revealed that the postal ballot of members will run from 21 February to 2 April. They also said:

We are by far the largest political party in the UK with well over half a million members…

We want as many of our members and supporters to take part, so it has been designed to be open, fair and democratic.

Frontbencher Rebecca Long-Bailey is expected to enter the leadership race as a prominent left-of-centre candidate. Party chair and Corbyn ally Ian Lavery, meanwhile, has also said “we’ll see what happens” when asked if he’d stand to succeed Corbyn.

Below are the candidates who have already declared their intention to join the leadership race: