Former House of Commons Leader Lucy Powell and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson will likely go head-to-head to become the next deputy leader of Labour.
The race to replace Angela Rayner following her resignation last Friday is moving up a gear after Labour MPs had their say on who they wanted to stand.
Candidates needed to secure support from at least 80 of their fellow MPs to progress to the next round, where the votership is broadened out to local Labour parties and trade unions.
Six women declared their intention to run for the deputy leadership earlier this week, but just three remained ahead of the deadline this afternoon.
Alison McGovern dropped out yesterday, while Emily Thornberry and Paula Barker said they were leaving the race earlier today.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy confirmed in a since-deleted post on X this afternoon that she had failed to secure the votes needed to make it to the next round.
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She added: ‘We cannot out-Reform Reform. But we can be more Labour.’
Powell is widely expected to have cleared the hurdle.
The deputy leadership position in the party is less powerful on a national scale than the Deputy Prime Minister government role, which was filled by David Lammy following Rayner’s exit.
Critics of the current Labour leadership hoped they could field a candidate who might push Prime Minister Keir Starmer to the left.
But Downing Street is likely to be pleased with the two women who are still in the running, as both are loyal enough to have already served high-profile roles in the government.
However, Powell was reportedly left furious after she was sacked as Leader of the House of Commons in the weekend reshuffle.
Confirming her candidacy in a post on X, she wrote that living in her home city of Manchester meant her politics are built on an ‘understanding of people’s everyday hopes and fears’.
She ended with a call to respond to the country’s ‘huge challenges’ with ‘bold policies, rooted in progressive Labour values’.
Meanwhile, Phillipson – seen as the current favourite in the race – described herself as a ‘a proud working-class woman from the North East’ who grew up in a ‘a single-parent family on a tough council street’.
The ballot for deputy leader opens up fully to Labour members on October 8 and will close on October 23 at 12pm.
If the contest continues to the end with neither candidate pulling out, the result is expected to be announced on October 25.
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