Jess Phillips drops out, Nandy nearly in, as Labour leadership contest field narrows
But the fight to succeed Jeremy Corbyn is set to become a three-horse race after the GMB union gave its backing to Lisa Nandy, boosting her chances of making the final ballot and challenging the two front-runners, Sir Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey.Candidates have until 14 February to secure nominations from 33 local constituency parties, or three Labour affiliates including two trade unions, representing at least 5 per cent of party members.
Ms Phillips had no endorsements from either local parties or affiliates, and admitted in a newspaper article that her performance in the first leadership hustings on Saturday had been “awful”.