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Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have apologized over Laborer’s “catastrophic” defeat in Thursday’s election, which saw them lose 154 seats.
Mr Corbynsaid he was “sorry that we came up short”,While Mr McDonnell told the BBC he “owns this disaster”.
The leader and shadow chancellor said they would step down in the new year.
The race for their replacements has already begun, with Wigan MP Lisa Nandy saying for the first time she was “seriously thinking about” running.
Mr McDonnell said it would be up to Laborer’s National Executive Committee to decide the mechanics of the leadership election, but he expected it to take place in eight to 10 weeks’ time.
Labor suffered its worst election result since on Thursday and saw its vote share fall by eight points.
The Conservatives won a Commons majority of – the party’s biggest election win for years – sweeping aside Labor in its traditional heartlands.
Mr Corbyn apologized to Labor supporters in two articles in the Sunday papers, calling it a “body blow for everyone who so desperately needs real change in our country “.
Writing an open letter in the Sunday Mirror, he said he took his” responsibility “for the result, but insisted he remained” proud ” of the party’s campaign.
Hedoubled down in the Observer,saying his own election campaign had successfully re-set the terms of debate and his manifesto w ould be seen as “historically important”.
But Mr McDonnell has argued “it’s on me” as he apologized for the performance, on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
The shadow chancellor said he was sorry for “not being able to articulate” the party’s campaign message ahead of the poll.
However, he also blamed the “media portrayal” of Mr Corbyn, saying “of course the system will throw the kitchen sink at you” if you challenge it.
Former Labor MP Caroline Flint – who lost her seat on Thursday – placed much of the blame at the leadership’s door.
She also criticized the party’s position on Brexit for leaving some voters behind, telling Sky’s Sophy Ridge that “ardent Remainers”, such as shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, “contributed to sacrificing “seats.
She accused Ms Thornberry of telling one her colleagues from a Brexit-backing area : “I’m glad my constituents aren’t as stupid as yours.”
Ms Thornberry said the accusation was “a total and utter lie”. She added: I have never said this to anyone, nor anything like it, and I hope needless to say, it is not something I would ever think. “
Ms Flint Added: “I don’t believe anybody who have been the architects of our European policy in the last few years is credible to be leader. I don’t think they can win back these seats. “
Instead, she said Ms Nandy and shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey were” worth looking at “.
Ms Nandy told the BBC’s Andrew Marr she was considering a leadership bid after the “most shattering” defeat for Labor.
“In towns like mine, the earth was quaking as the entire Labor base crumble beneath our feet,” she added.
Ms Nandy made a number of proposals – including moving the party’s headquarters out of London – to help “rebuild that coalition” between “the Lewishams and the Leighs”, and to regain a Labor Party that “speaks for both”.
A number of other candidates are expected to join the race, including Salford and Eccles MP Ms Long-Bailey and Birmingham Yardley MP Jess Phillips.
Ms Phillipswrote in the Observer an appeal to peopleto join Labor to change it, arguing too many working-class people do not believe the party is better than the Tories.
Asked about the contenders, Mr McDonnell said he would “prefer others” to Ms Phillips, naming Ms Long-Bailey, shadow education secretary Angela Rayner and shadow women’s and equalities minister Dawn Butler as possibilities.
He said Ms Phillips was “really talented”, but added: “I want someone who actually has been really solidly involved in the development of existing policy – that’s why Becky and Angie and Dawn and others have been so good.”
Mr McDonnell said it “should be a woman leader next” and was “most likely time for a non-metropolitan” leader, adding: “I think it is time for a non-London MP, we need a northern voice as much as possible. “
Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon also backed Ms Long-Bailey and said he was considering running to be her deputy.
“Colleagues have approached me about that,” he told Sky.
Analysis by John Pienaar, BBC deputy political editor
Brave infantrymen in the muddy trenches of the Great War would hurl themselves onto the barbed wire to allow their comrades to march over their backs and advance towards the guns of the enemy.
Can you imagine doing that? No, me neither.
It’s maybe no easier to see why there’s already a line of Labor politicians preparing to join the battle to succeed Jeremy Corbyn.
Boris Johnson’s – strong House of Commons majority by any normal standard could be big enough to repel labor’s next advance in five years.
It’s reasonable to imagine that another leader could come and go before Labor recaptures the territory it has lost, assuming it ever does.
Whoever wins the coming leadership contest will first have to triumph in the struggle to map laborer’s course through the field of battle; to decide how deep aa shade of red the party’s battle flag should be (just to torture the metaphor a little more).
(Read more from John here
)
Meanwhile, the Conservatives are preparing for the first week of their new government.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Rishi Sunak, told Andrew Marr it was their “intention” to bring back Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill to Parliament “before Christmas” – although he would not confirm the date.
“As soon as possible would be perfect,” he said. “But obviously those conversations are happening between the relevant parties and the House authorities as we speak.”
MPs will return to Westminster on Tuesday and begin the process of swearing in, before the Queen formally opens Parliament on Thursday.
Mr Johnson’s Queen’s Speech will include a commitment by the party to put its NHS spending plan into law as a symbol of commitment to the health service.
Downing Street has confirmed there will be a review of Whitehall departments – and the Sunday papers report that the prime minister will work over Christmas on plans to merge and split different government offices.
The Sunday Telegraph says the PM’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings is preparingan overhaul of the civil serviceto ensure it delivers on Mr Johnson’s agenda.
But Mr Gove said the government would not grant Scotland another referendum on independence, despite the success of the SNP in Thursday’s election.
The party, which campaigns for an independent Scotland, won (seats – up from– and its leader, Nicola Sturgeon, said she had “earned the right to pursue the plan” for another vote.
Ms Sturgeon, who is also First Minister of Scotland, said: “They will rage against reality for as long as they can but Scotland has chosen a very different kind of future than most of the rest of the UK, and they cant stand in the way of the will of the Scottish people.
“Fundamentally democracy has to be offered and respected.”
Meanwhile, the Sunday Times claims up to a third of cabinet ministersface the sack in February, Whitehall departments could be abolished and civil servants replaced by external experts.
It’s also been confirmed that the government has ordered a review to consider decriminalizing non-payment of the BBC license fee – which costs £ (*********************************************************. annually.
Proceedings begin. when MPs gather for their first duty: to elect the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who replaced John Bercow in November. Technically, MPs can hold a vote on this motion but this has never happened in practice.
Later in the day, the Speaker will begin the process of swearing in MPs, who are required to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown, or, if they object to this, a solemn affirmation. Those who speak or vote without having done so are deprived of their seat “as if they were dead” under the Parliamentary Oaths Act of (******************************************************.
Two to three days are usually set aside for this process.
This is the earliest possible day for Parliament’s State Opening. The Queen’s Speech is the centrepiece of this, when she will read a speech written by ministers setting out the government program of legislation for the parliamentary session. A couple of hours after the speech is delivered, MPs will begin debating its contents – a process which takes days.
Depending on how rapidly Boris Johnson wants to move, the debate on the Queen’s Speech could continue into Friday.
This may be interrupted for a second reading debate on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill. MPs previously backed Boris Johnson’s bill at its first stage butrejected his plan to fast-track the legislation through Parliament in three daysin order to leave the EU by the previous October Brexit deadline .
After the debate on the Queen’s Speech is connected, MPs will vote on whether to approve it. Not since 1935 Has a government Queen Speech been defeated.
Read more from the BBC’s Parliament correspondent, Mark D’Arcy
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