5 hours ago
4
Emily Thornberry has withdrawn from the Labour deputy leadership race, clearing the way for a two-way fight between the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, and the former Commons leader Lucy Powell.
The MP for Islington South and Finsbury announced on Thursday that while she was “deeply grateful to all the Labour members who have shared their support”, she had decided to pull out.
“It has been a privilege to take part in this race with such brilliant women. I will always be committed to this party and do everything I can to make it successful,” Thornberry wrote on X.
The former shadow attorney general struggled to garner the 80 nominations she needed from Labour MPs to make it through to the next stage. According to the official tally on Wednesday night she was in last place with 13 backers.
It came shortly before Paula Barker also withdrew, giving her support to Powell after only garnering the support of 14 MPs.
She said: “The next deputy leader must listen to the concerns of every section of our party and not be afraid to bring those challenges to the government.
“Being a good team doesn’t mean we can’t be honest – criticism of government, when it’s constructive, makes us stronger.”
Phillipson sailed over the line with 116 nominations, with Powell just three short of the number required at 77 – before Barker dropped out.
The figures suggest Phillipson and Powell are set to make it to the second round. A candidate from the left of the party, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, is unlikely to progress having secured the support of 15 MPs.
Phillipson, who is seen as the frontrunner and Downing Street’s preferred candidate, said on Thursday that she had written to the Labour general secretary to secure formal nomination for the role of deputy leader. “It’s time to unite our party and smash Reform,” she said.
Alison McGovern, a housing minister, withdrew from the race on Wednesday and offered her support to Phillipson, saying the “momentum of this contest had shifted”.
Candidates have until 5pm on Thursday to secure nominations from their fellow MPs.
The prospect of a contested election threatens to overshadow Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool at the end of September, with the contest seen by some as a referendum on Keir Starmer’s leadership.
Several MPs said any race between Powell and Phillipson would be deeply uncomfortable for No 10. “It’s a proxy war between Keir and Andy Burnham,” said one MP, referring to Powell’s close ties to the mayor of Greater Manchester, who is seen by many as a potential successor to Starmer.
Powell is leading the race for votes among centrist and soft-left MPs who have been disillusioned with Starmer. Though she was sacked in the cabinet reshuffle last week, she has refrained so far from directly criticising the prime minister or calling for a change of direction. When she announced her candidacy she said she had been proud to serve in the government.
Ribeiro-Addy, on the left of the party, said the deputy leadership race was being suffocated by anti-democratic rules that prevented a wider debate. She said it would ultimately drive more Labour members away by preventing a proper contest.
