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Labour leadership: Thornberry and Lewis must hit nomination target by 2.30pm or drop out – live news | Politics

Good morning. Today we hit the first deadline in the Labour leadership contest and at 2.30pm two leadership candidates, Emily Thornberry and Clive Lewis, and three deputy leadership candidates, Richard Burgon, Rosena Allin-Khan and Dawn Butler, will find out whether or they have been able to reach the 22 nomination threshold, or whether they will have to drop out from the contest.

In the leadership contest, according to the official Labour party tally, Thornberry is on 10 and Lewis is on four. But Thornberry has not nominated herself yet, and so 11 is a more accurate figure.

The four leadership candidates who have already got the nominations they need, and who are on to the next stage of the process, are: Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy and Jess Phillips.

And in the deputy leadership contest, according to the official tally, Burgon is on 18, Allin-Khan is on 17 and Butler is on 15. Two candidates are already through: Angela Rayner and Ian Murray.

On the Today programme this morning Clive Lewis said he had faith that his colleagues would help him out. He said:


I’ve got faith in my colleagues. I think they have heard what I have put forward this week. I think they have heard the radical nature of what I’m saying.

I understand it is difficult because I am talking about things which are hard for people to hear. This isn’t about triangulating on our policies – it is about saying you have got a political system that is stacked against you.

Why do you keep playing by the rules with both your hands tied behind your back? Change the rules.

Lewis was referring to his support for proportional representation (PR).

This morning Lewis gets a boost from the Guardian, which has published a leader saying that we hope both Lewis and Thornberry get through to the next round and that Lewis has done more than any other candidate to advance an analysis of Labour’s problems addressing defects with the UK’s political system as a whole. It says:


So far, Mr Lewis has done more than the other candidates to advance an analysis of Labour’s problems that goes beyond weaknesses of the manifesto, the leadership and Brexit to address the UK’s political system as a whole. On Sunday he launched a manifesto that included proposals for the democratisation of the BBC and a new body to represent women and girls, as well as plans for devolution, the abolition of the House of Lords and introduction of a proportional voting system (the latter is also supported by Ms Phillips, with the other candidates so far undecided).

A diverse field of candidates and ideas is important, which is why we hope that both Mr Lewis and Ms Thornberry will make it to the next round. In the past, hostility to electoral reform has come from the right and left of the party. Even now, it is unlikely to be the first priority of an opposition facing so many challenges. Nor is it the only policy area in which intellectual work, as well as the community organising that several leadership contenders have described as a priority, is needed. But the problems with first past the post, including the way it perpetuates a Labour-Tory duopoly, shuts out smaller parties and rewards nationalist ones (because votes piled up in one area are easier to convert into seats than those that are thinly spread) can no longer be ignored.

Obviously Guardian leaders are always right although, sadly, history shows that a Guardian endorsement does not always guarantee electoral success.

Here is the agenda for the day.

11am: Downing Street lobby briefing.

11am: Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach, visit Belfast for talks with the first minister, Arlene Foster, and deputy first minister, Michelle O’Neill. Johnson is expected to speak to the media at around 12.30pm.

2.30pm: Nominations close for MPs and MEPs backing candidates in the Labour leadership and deputy leadership elections. The leadership candidates Emily Thornberry and Clive Lewis and the deputy leadership candidates Richard Burgon, Rosena Allin-Khan and Dawn Butler have until then to reach the threshold of 22 nominations, or face being eliminated from the contest.

2.30pm: The Labour leadership candidate Lisa Nandy gives a speech in Dagenham.

2.30pm: Nicky Morgan, the culture secretary, and Zac Goldsmith, the environment minister, are introduced as new peers in the House of Lords.

After 3pm: Peers debate the second reading of the EU (withdrawal agreement) bill.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary when I wrap up.

You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

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