Labour Party narrowly backs Keir Starmer's leadership reforms

The Labour Party conference is Sir Keir Starmer's moment to show the country if he can make an impact, reports ITV News Political Correspondent Romilly Weeks

Sir Keir Starmer’s package of leadership reforms have been approved by Labour members following a tight vote.

The rule change proposals were subject to a card vote among delegates and were backed by 53.67% to 46.33%.

One proposal was to increase the support required for someone to run for leader, with Sir Keir saying candidates should have the backing of 20% of Labour MPs - up from the current 10%.

Another change will see six months of membership required before someone is allowed to vote on a leadership candidate - and the ability to join a “registered supporters” scheme, which allowed people to pay £25 for a vote in 2020 leadership election, has been dropped.

It will also be more difficult to deselect MPs by raising the threshold for triggering a selection contest, with 50% of local branches in the Constituency Labour Party (CLP) and affiliated union and socialist groups needing to back such a move.

Why Sir Keir has to start connecting with voters - ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston

It was also confirmed that Labour members had supported other reforms put forward to them.

Moves to introduce a fully independent complaints process, following a critical report by the equalities watchdog, were approved by 73.64% to 26.36%.

He said: “This is a decisive and important day in the history of the Labour Party. I promised to tackle anti-Semitism in our party. We’ve now closed the door on a shameful chapter in our history. I want to acknowledge the courage of all the people who spoke up against it."

He added: "This is a crucial step forward for party I lead and am determined to see in government.

“And in the coming days you’ll hear us set out ideas on how we win the next election.”

Sir Keir had been hoping to implement much more dramatic reforms but was forced to back down amid fierce opposition from the left of the party and trade union affiliates.

He was seeking to change the "one member, one vote" system for electing new leaders - the system that saw his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn elected twice.

That system would have been replaced with a return to the electoral college - made up of the unions and affiliate organisations, MPs and party members, each with an equal share.

But the proposals gained a furious response, with many members saying they would have given too much power to MPs, creating in-fighting at a time they said Labour should be focusing on tackling the Tories.

After backing down, Sir Keir put forward a set of watered-down rule changes, dividing the conference hall in Brighton, before delegates voted to pass the proposals.

He expressed his delight at the approval of the reforms, which included separate measures to introduce a fully independent complaints process to tackle anti-Semitism.

He said: “This is a crucial step forward for party I lead and am determined to see in government.

“And in the coming days you’ll hear us set out ideas on how we win the next election.”