Emily Thornberry dropped out of the Labour leader battle today – as Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell look set to face off for the key job.
The Foreign Affairs Committee chair said it had been a ‘privilege’ to compete, but she was withdrawing.
The move came as the deadline for nominations looms at 5pm tonight. Dame Emily only had 13 MP supporters – who will now be able to choose again. She did not say whom she would be backing.
So far, only Education Secretary Ms Phillipson has secured backing from enough MPs to make it past the first round, sailing over the line with 116 nominations by 7pm on Wednesday.
She is likely to be joined by former Commons leader Ms Powell, who was just three short of the 80 nominations required to advance to the next stage.
But the other three candidates remain far short, suggesting there will be a two-horse race between Ms Phillipson and Ms Powell.
Emily Thornberry dropped out of the Labour leader battle today – as Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell look set to face off for the key job
The Foreign Affairs Committee chair said it had been a ‘privilege’ to compete, but she was withdrawing
Ms Phillipson has already made the threshold for moving on to the next stage of the contest
Former Commons leader Lucy Powellis just three short of the 80 nominations required to advance to the next stage
Left-wing MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy is third on 15 nominations, followed by Liverpool Wavertree’s Paula Barker on 14.
The sixth candidate Alison McGovern dropped out of the race last night and offered her backing to Ms Phillipson, saying the ‘momentum of this contest had shifted’.
The prospect of a contested election threatens to overshadow Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool at the end of September, with a contest described by some as a referendum on the Prime Minister’s leadership.
But neither Ms Phillipson, a Cabinet minister, nor Ms Powell has so far been openly critical of Sir Keir Starmer, while other candidates have explicitly called for a change of direction.
Despite being sacked by Sir Keir last week, Ms Powell said she had been ‘proud’ to serve in government when announcing her candidacy, while Ms Phillipson said she would ‘unite the party, take the fight to Reform, and deliver for our country’.
