Lisa Nandy in resilience plea as UK Labour leadership ballot closes

Indian-origin British MP Lisa Nandy, who made it to the final three-member shortlist in the leadership race to replace Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, made a plea for resilience as the postal ballot for the election closed on Thursday.

The 40-year-old MP for Wigan in Greater Manchester, where she was born, had called on the Labour Party to be "brave" and elect her during a series of hustings around the country.

The daughter of India-born academic Dipak Nandy and a British mother, along with other candidates, halted active campaigning last month as the coronavirus pandemic gained momentum in the UK.

Labour must show real leadership to help lead us through this crisis and rebuild a more compassionate, resilient country on the other side, Nandy said in a Twitter statement as voting closed.

"Last time we had an economic crisis the government responded with austerity. This time we have to get it right. We need the equivalent of a Marshall Plan to rebuild our public services and ensure all parts of the country come through this and Labour must ensure we get it, she said.

The strict social distancing rules in place to try and control the outbreak means the Labour Party cancelled plans for a special conference to unveil the new leader, planned in London, with the announcement now expected to be made online on Saturday.

"This is not a decision we have taken lightly. Our priority is the wellbeing of our members and staff, and ensuring we fully contribute to the collective effort to protect public health, a Labour Party spokesperson said.

A total of 784,000 members, affiliates and registered supporters were entitled to participate. They have been voting for their new leader since February 24, with Keir Starmer emerging as the frontrunner in the race.

A latest survey from YouGov revealed that the former shadow Brexit Secretary in Corbyn's shadow Cabinet, who stood on a unity platform in the three-month long contest, has a commanding lead over his rivals and could win on first preference votes in the preferential ballot system.

Rebecca Long-Bailey, the third shortlisted candidate, had revealed that all candidates had been asked to record a victory speech so it can be sent out over the airwaves as quickly as possible this weekend.

Angela Rayner, the shadow Education Secretary, has emerged as the favourite in the deputy leadership contest as she competes against Pakistani-origin Rosena Allin-Khan and fellow Labour MPs Dawn Butler, Ian Murray, and Richard Burgon.

As many as 114,000 new members who had joined since the December 2019 General Election, when Labour suffered a bruising defeat with its lowest number of seats since 1935, voted alongside members of affiliated trades unions and groups for the postal ballot.

Around 14,700 "registered supporters", who paid 25 pound to take part on a one-off basis, were also part of the preferential voting system in which the candidates are ranked in order of preference.

If no candidate secures more than half the first preference votes, the second preference votes of the lowest-ranked candidate are redistributed until the winner can be declared.