Candidates vying to be Labour’s next deputy leader are racing to get the support of their fellow MPs, as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson emerges as a frontrunner.
To stay in the contest, they need to secure the backing of 80 MPs by 17:00 on Thursday.
Phillipson’s team believe they will clear the threshold a day early, after gathering 44 nominations by the end of Tuesday.
Her closest rivals so far are former Commons leader Lucy Powell with 35 backers and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who is on the left of the party, with eight.
They are followed by Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Dame Emily Thornberry with seven, Liverpool Wavertree MP Paula Barker with three and Housing Minister Alison McGovern with only two.
But with around 300 of the 399 Labour MPs yet to declare their favoured candidate, there is still time for other campaigns to gain momentum.
Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet – which includes 24 MPs – have been told not to nominate any candidate, though junior ministers are able to do so.
But some Labour figures wonder if as many as 80 more could choose not to officially back anyone, shrivelling the electorate.
It looks quite likely Phillipson will stack up a very big number of supporters, further squeezing the remaining votes to be fought over.
This leaves open the possibility that she is the only candidate to get enough MP backers.
Some rival camps think this is exactly the outcome Downing Street would favour, allowing the contest to be wrapped up quickly.
As the only member of the cabinet to announce her intention to stand, Phillipson is also expected to be more supportive of the government than some of the other candidates.
This may help her secure lots of MP nominations, but may be a disadvantage if the contest reaches the stage where Labour Party members get a vote and there is a rival candidate not in government.
There is talk among Phillipson’s opponents of the need for votes to consolidate around a viable rival, rather than splinter in five different directions.
Supporters of Powell, who was sacked from her cabinet role in the recent reshuffle, sound cautiously optimistic they can get to 80 nominations.
Meanwhile, other candidates are seeking to woo their fellow MPs, with a virtual hustings taking place at 20:00.
The six hopefuls will be at party headquarters in south London, with Labour MPs able to join remotely to ask questions.
If they secure enough support from their parliamentary colleagues, candidates will then need the backing of either 5% of local parties, or three Labour-affiliated groups, including two unions.
Those who clear the bar face a vote by party members, with the winner announced on 25 October.
Whoever wins the contest, David Lammy will remain as deputy prime minister – a role which is appointed by the prime minister, rather than decided by Labour Party members.
The contest was triggered when Angela Rayner resigned as deputy leader, deputy PM and housing secretary, after admitting she failed to pay enough tax when buying a £800,000 flat in Hove.
