Phillipson reaches second stage of Labour deputy leadership race

Bridget Phillipson has made it to the next round of Labour’s deputy leadership contest after securing nominations from 116 of the party’s MPs.

The Education Secretary became the first candidate to cross the threshold of 80 nominations required to make it to the next stage.

Already the frontrunner, Ms Phillipson received a boost on Wednesday afternoon when one of her rivals, fellow minister Alison McGovern, dropped out of the race and pledged to support her.

Figures released on Wednesday evening showed Ms Phillipson’s main rival, Lucy Powell, had received 77 nominations, just three short of the required 80 with a day to go before nominations close.

It now appears likely that Ms Powell, who was sacked by Sir Keir Starmer as leader of the Commons last week, will reach 80 nominations by the deadline of 5pm on Thursday.

But the remaining three candidates were further adrift, with left-wing MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy on 15 nominations, Liverpool Wavertree MP Paula Barker on 14 and Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Dame Emily Thornberry on 13.

All five candidates face a virtual hustings with Labour MPs on Wednesday evening.

Earlier, Ms McGovern said she had decided to drop out of the contest to give her supporters time to back one of the remaining candidates, adding it was “clear that the momentum of this contest had shifted and I am not going to progress to the next stage”.

Ms McGovern decided to back Ms Phillipson, but one of her two publicly declared supporters – St Helens North MP David Baines – has given his support to Ms Powell.

If more than one candidate secures 80 nominations by Thursday evening, they will then need to gain backing from either three of Labour’s affiliate organisations, including two trade unions, or 5% of constituency parties.

That process will continue until September 27, meaning a contested election threatens to overshadow the party’s annual conference that begins in Liverpool the next day.