Operation Stop Keir Starmer: Labour’s hard-Left desperately denounce ‘centrist’ shadow Brexit secretary as poll shows he is on track to win leadership

• Keir Starmer would beat Rebecca Long-Bailey in a run-off, YouGov poll suggests
• The centrist shadow Brexit secretary has yet to declare whether he will run
• Mr Corbyn is standing down after leading Labour to its worst defeat since 1935 

Labour’s hard-Left is engaged in a desperate battle to keep their grip on the party today after Sir Keir Starmer emerged as the favourite to win the leadership.

MPs have warned of ‘Operation Stop Keir’ after a poll of members showed the centrist shadow Brexit secretary well ahead of Corbynista candidates such as Rebecca Long Bailey and Ian Lavery. 

The analysis of a YouGov survey found Sir Keir is set to trounce Ms Long Bailey by 61 per cent to 39 per cent in a run-off when the contest comes to its conclusion in March. 

But it sparked a furious backlash from left-wingers online, with claims Sir Keir is not ‘socialist’ and putting a London-based Remainer in charge would be a ‘parody’ of what is needed to recover from the election rout. 

One moderate MP, not a natural cheerleader for Sir Keir, told MailOnline: ‘There will be a Stop Keir campaign now… 

‘The problem the Left has got… is that there is not a united position.

‘They have got Saint Jeremy. But who else is there? Long Bailey is not up to it.’ 

The MP predicted the hardline clique that installed Mr Corbyn in the top job would now splinter and turn on each other.

‘The Left always starts eating their own children,’ they said. ‘It happened in the 1980s and it will happen again now.’     

The YouGov poll of Labour Party members found Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey are the two early front-runners for the leadership

Sir Keir was hammering home his campaigning credentials today as he steps up his tilt for Labour’s top job

New leader? Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) is the early front-runner to succeed Jeremy Corbyn, according to the first major poll of the looming party contest

The poll showed Mr Starmer, an arch-Remainer who represents a London constituency, in the lead in every UK region and age group.  

Mr Starmer has yet to declare formally that he will run, although he has given every indication he plans to.

Ms Long-Bailey – seen as the preferred choice of Mr Corbyn’s allies – has said she is considering a bid, but chairman Ian Lavery is also mulling putting himself forward as the torchbearer of the Left. 

There are concerns among moderates about whether Sir Keir could win back the Leave-leaning ‘Red Wall’ constituencies, which delivered Boris Johnson’s stunning election victory last month.

Bermondsey MP Neil Coyle told Sky News the next leader should have a sseat outside of London. 

‘He was part of the Shadow Cabinet that led us to a disastrous election result,’ he said. 

The poll of 1,059 Labour party members put Sir Keir on 31 per cent of first choice votes, with Ms Long-Bailey on 20 per cent. 

Jess Phillips, the outspoken MP for Birmingham Yardley who has yet to declare her intentions, is in third place in the poll with 11 per cent.  

Clive Lewis and Yvette Cooper are next on seven per cent, with Emily Thornberry on six and Lisa Nandy on five.  

With less popular candidates eliminated, a final run-off would see Mr Starmer beat Ms Long-Bailey in the last round, according to analysis by Prof Tim Bale and Prof Paul Webb of the University of Sussex.

The election process will be officially launched next week as Labour picks up the pieces from its worst general election defeat since 1935. 

Labour dropped to 202 seats and suffered a succession of historic defeats in its former working-class heartlands in the north of England.  

In one particularly symbolic blow, the Conservatives won the County Durham seat of Sedgefield – formerly held by Tony Blair who led Labour to three election victories.  

Rebecca Long-Bailey (pictured) – seen as the preferred choice of Mr Corbyn’s allies – has said she is considering a bid for the Labour leadership 

So far, only Ms Thornberry and Mr Lewis have formally announced they will run to succeed Mr Corbyn.  

According to the survey, Mr Starmer is backed as first choice by 34 per cent of Remainers in the survey, but only supported by 17 per cent of Leavers.

Ms Long-Bailey is rated first choice by 19 per cent of Labour members who voted Remain, but scores 31 per cent of those who voted Leave.

Most Labour members are Remainers, although some of Mr Corbyn’s allies have blamed the party’s shift towards a pro-Remain position for its election defeat.  

After initially ruling out a second Brexit referendum, Mr Corbyn eventually promised to support one – but refused to say how he would vote.    

Ms Long-Bailey has blamed the party’s ‘compromise solution’ on Brexit, as well as a lack of trust among voters, for its election defeat. 

The survey was commissioned from YouGov by the Party Members Project, which is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. 

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