Jess Phillips abandons her attempt to be next Labour leader

JESS Phillips has abandoned her bid to become Labour’s next leader as she admitted she would not be able to bring the party together after its “cataclysmic” election defeat.

The outspoken backbencher, who was a prominent critic of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, acknowledged she would not be able to unite the unions, members and Labour MPs behind her.

Former shadow cabinet minister

Lisa Nandy took a big step towards making it on to the final ballot paper after she won the backing of the GMB union.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer is the frontrunner in the contest, having already secured his place on the final ballot paper as a result of nominations from the unions Unison and Usdaw and the Socialist Environment and Resources Association (Sera), an affiliate group.

Sir Keir, Ms Nandy, shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry were all at the GMB’s hustings in London yesterday.

Ms Phillips was absent from the event and subsequently announced she was dropping out of the contest.

She said Labour had to “talk to the country on their terms, not just on ours” to win an election.

“In order to do that, the Labour Party will need to select a candidate that can unite all parts of our movement – the union movement, the members and elected representatives – I have to be honest that at this time, that person isn’t me,” she said.

The endorsement of the GMB puts Ms Nandy within touching distance of a place on the final ballot paper.

Candidates need the nominations of three Labour affiliates, including at least two unions, which amount to at least 5% of affiliate members.

The only other route on to the ballot paper is by receiving nominations from at least 33 constituency Labour parties (CLPs).

GMB general secretary Tim Roache said: “Lisa Nandy is a breath of fresh air in the debate over Labour’s future.”