Rumoured runners and riders to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader

Jeremy Corbyn decided not to lead the Labour Party into another general election following devastating results for the party, leading to the expected election of a new leader for the party.

Mr Corbyn acknowledged that he had to leave Labour's helm after suffering a second General Election defeat as he criticised media "attacks" towards himself, his family and the party.

"I want to also make it clear that I will not lead the party in any future general election campaign," he said as he accepted victory in his Islington North constituency.

"I will discuss with our party to ensure there is a process now of reflection on this result and on the policies that the party will take going forward.

Several Labour MPs have been named as possible candidates, including (clockwise from left) Rebecca Long-Bailey, Emily Thornberry (pictured with Jeremy Corbyn), John McDonnell and Keir Starmer. Pictures: PA and Getty Images

"And I will lead the party during that period to ensure that discussion takes place and we move on into the future."

Although senior party figures said John McDonnell had been rumoured to be a likely interim Labour leader for a few months in the case of Mr Corbyn stepping down, the Shadow Chancellor said during election night that he would not serve "either as a temporary or a permanent" leader of the Labour Party.

Bookies have hinted at several possible candidates to replace the leader, who admitted it had been a "very disappointing" night as support crumbled in Labour's former heartlands, with Keir Starmer and Emily Thornberry among the front runners to emerge from the shadows.

Sir Starmer, the overall favourite with odds of 2/1, famously wanted the Labour Party to back the Remain during the 2016 referndum.

He was a human rights lawyer and co-founded Doughty Street Chambers in 1990. He then worked as human rights adviser to the Policing Board in Northern Ireland, monitoring compliance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) with the Human Rights Act, and in 2008 he was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service for England and Wales.

The shadow Brexit secretary was elected as Labour MP for Holborn & St Pancras in May 2015.

Although he has a 33 per cent chance of taking over as Labour leader, he is u[ against three women who are predicted to do well in the contest to become the most senior member of the party.

Female opponents

One of the candidates, Ms.Thornberry, was forced to resign from the shadow cabinet by Mr Corbyn's predecessor, Ed Miliband, in 2014 after being accused of mocking "White Van Man" in a tweet during a visit to Rochester which pictured a terraced housing block with St George's flags flying from the window, adding the caption "image from #Rochester".

But she returned to the Labour front benches following the new leader's election in September 2015, taking the post of shadow employment minister.

A self-confessed gay icon, she worked as a human rights barrister and was elected MP for Islington South and Finsbury - neighbouring Mr Corbyn's north London constituency - in 2005.

She has campaigned in Parliament for better treatment of women against allegations of sleaze, while taking up the cause of the family of teenager Harry Dunn, whose death remains at the centre of a Transatlantic diplomatic row.

Another runner-up is the little less well known MP for Salford and Eccles, Ms Rebecca Long-Bailey, with bookies predicting her odds at 7/2.