The fight for who will replace Angela Rayner as deputy leader of the Labour Party intensified today as six candidates confirmed they were in the race - and the first poll revealed the frontrunner.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, seen as Keir Starmer’s preferred candidate, joins Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Dame Emily Thornberry, backbench MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Liverpool Wavertree MP Paula Barker, housing minister Alison McGovern and Lucy Powell, who was sacked as leader of the Commons last week, in the contest.
A poll of party members, conducted for LabourList by Survation, showed Phillipson taking an early lead.
The survey of 1,308 people had the Cabinet Minister top with an overall favourability rating +39%. Thornberry was the next most popular confirmed candidate at +20%, while McGovern was on +11%.
Powell had an overall favourability of 1%, and Ribeiro-Addy, who is seen as the most leftwing candidate, was on -3%, the poll suggested.
Sir Keir was forced into a major reshuffle of his cabinet after his deputy, who was also the Housing Secretary, resigned last week.
Other candidates to replace Ms Rayner are expected to come forward throughout Tuesday before a hustings tomorrow and nominations closing on Thursday.
Candidates require the backing of 80 Labour MPs to proceed to the second stage of the contest, a rule which will hinder the most leftwing candidates.
The shortened nomination period has led some to accuse the party leadership of orchestrating a "stitch-up", while Ribeiro-Addy described it as "unfair".
She added: "The Labour Party is a broad church and, actually, when we are able to have debates, when we are able to bring forward different views, it actually makes us better."
Phillipson became the first Cabinet Minister to announce a bid for the deputy leadership on Tuesday.
She described herself as "a proud working-class woman from the North East" who had gone from "a single parent family on a tough council street" to the Cabinet table.
Adding that she had taken on "powerful vested interests in the education sector" and "never taken a backwards step", she pledged to "bring that same determination to every battle ahead of us".
Phillipson said: "Because make no mistake: we are in a fight. We all know the dangers Reform poses to our country.
"But not only am I ready for it: I've proven we can do it. I've shown we can beat Farage in the North East, while staying true to the Labour Party's values of equality, fairness and social justice."
Thornberry, who was not appointed to Sir Keir's first Cabinet last year despite serving as shadow attorney general at the election, listed welfare, Gaza, a wealth tax and planned changes to special educational needs provision as her key issues.
"I will be a voice for the membership, unions, PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party), and our constituents - not just nod along,” she said.
McGovern, the MP for Birkenhead, said: "Our country faces a huge threat from the dark forces of right-wing populism.
"We will only defeat that threat by giving people real hope and pride in our diverse country. And by fighting for those things that unite, not divide, us all: the right to a home, a job and to feel part of this country. I believe I can shape our story, communicating our values in a way that resonates across the Labour family and with the public.”
Ribeiro-Addy announced her candidacy on Monday evening and appears set to be the main candidate from the left of the party.
Speaking to the BBC's Today programme on Tuesday, she said Labour needs a debate about "what's gone wrong" in its first year in power, warning the party will not be able to "attract or even to retain" voters without a change in direction.
Manchester Central MP Powell, an ally of Mayor Andy Burnham was sacked as leader of the Commons in Friday’s reshuffle. Announcing her candidacy, she said her politics were "rooted" in "an understanding of people's everyday hopes and fears".
Few parliamentarians have so far come out publicly in support of a candidate, although Ribeiro-Addy has received backing from members of the left of the party, including Richard Burgon, the chairman of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs.
Others within the party have suggested Ms Rayner's successor should be a woman from the North of England, which would rule out Ribeiro-Addy and Thornberry.
Speaking to Times Radio on Tuesday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he would "certainly prefer" the next deputy leader to be a woman.
He added: "Without being disrespectful to some brilliant women in London who are standing, like Emily Thornberry, who I've got lots of respect for, I can well understand why lots of my colleagues are saying we should have a deputy leader from outside London to broaden perspectives."
