Wigan MP Ms Nandy, who narrowly came third behind Ms Long-Bailey in the first round of the leadership campaign, is said to have impressed Mr McCluskey in a face-to-face meeting.

Yvette Cooper said backing Sir Keir Starmer to replace Jeremy Corbyn was a 'hard decision' because she has 'always argued it's time we had a Labour woman leader'.

Two of Jeremy Corbyn's top allies have urged northern working class voters to join Labour and prevent southern Remainers from deciding the party's leadership contest.

Rebecca Long-Bailey has hinted that she took cannabis during a trip to Amsterdam as she prepares to formally launch her Labour leadership bid this evening.

In a defiant riposte, she hinted that her concerns had been 'misrepresented' in a bid to damage her bid to succeed Jeremy Corbyn.

The grassroots group has taken aim at moderate MPs under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, leading to allegations it was acting in his best interests rather than the party's.

A YouGov poll found 71 per cent of them have a favourable view of Mr Corbyn. Second on 70 per cent was Ed Miliband, another election loser, while John Smith came third on 67 per cent.

Allies of Rebecca Long-Bailey have demanded Sir Keir Starmer pull out of the Labour leadership race to make way for a woman to take over from Jeremy Corbyn.

The Wigan MP used a media interview this morning to claim the 'consensus that Thatcher built lasted all the way through the New Labour years' under Mr Blair and then Gordon Brown.

The leadership candidate said there are 'really experienced, amazing people' in the parliamentary Labour party and that 'we've got to have that good mix of talent in there'.

The Wigan MP said the beleaguered party should be focusing on getting rid of Tory MPs rather than their own following Jeremy Corbyn's humiliating defeat to Boris Johnson in December's election.

Members of Unite, the second largest union in Britain, backed the shadow business secretary after a ballot this afternoon, as well as Richard Burgon for deputy leader.

Footage shows shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon arguing with shadow Equalities Minister Dawn Butler as they addressed potential voters in Leeds.

The Unite the union boss said critics of the shadow business secretary 'would be better to clear out now' amid reports some are planning to quit Labour if she wins the contest.

Jeremy Corbyn delivered an apparent endorsement of Rebecca Long-Bailey at a retirement party for former MP Ronnie Campbell over the weekend.

Rebecca Long-Bailey told an event she had been left in a 'state of shock' by the scale of their defeat on December 12, when Labour handed Boris Johnson an 80-seat Tory majority.

Rebecca Long-Bailey said she would not stand in the way of another referendum on Scottish independence as she clashed with her fellow Labour leadership candidates.

The left-wing candidate to replace Jeremy Corbyn told an event at the weekend how she worked until 3am in 2016 after the resignation of Robert Marris left the party's treasury team in the lurch.

Former Cabinet minister Lord Mandelson swiped that left-winger Jeremy Corbyn had helped deliver a 'stonking' majority for the Tories last month.

Boris Johnson today accused Jeremy Corbyn of a 'grotesque failure' to understand UK efforts to tackle climate change as the PM shrugged off criticism from a sacked ex-minister.

The outgoing Labour leader, whose public appearances have been limited since he lost the election in December, was in the chamber for an update on the impact of Storm Ciara.

Lachlan Stuart, a personal friend of Corbyn who co-wrote the Labour manifesto, said Ms Long Bailey was 'not fit to lead' because of her views on trans.

Rebecca Long-Bailey revealed her plans for the former Labour leader at a meeting in south-east London, and said that she 'loves' him. She is trailing Keir Starmer in the race to be the next Labour leader.

Labour leadership challenger Lisa Nandy has said she would vote to abolish the monarchy at a referendum while rival Rebecca Long-Bailey refused to name a former party leader she admired.

Lisa Nandy today declared she would be willing to serve in a shadow cabinet led by either of her Labour leadership rivals if she fails to pull off a shock upset.

The outgoing leader, who led Labour to its worst election defeat since the 1930s in December, spoke as he toured areas affected by flooding in Wales this afternoon.

Beauty blogger Nikki Lilly, 15, from London, appeared on Loose Women today where she said pupils should be taught the 'correct' way to use social media in schools.

Sir Keir Starmer has warned Labour activists the party risks being out of power for a generation unless it unites and fights the Tories.

Sir Keir Starmer today hinted he could campaign to bring back EU freedom of movement at the next general election as voting began in the Labour leadership contest.

Angela Rayner has launched a savage attack on Jeremy Corbyn as she suggested he had failed as Labour leader because he 'didn't command respect'.

Jeremy Corbyn has made a plea to 'anointed' successor Rebecca Long Bailey to make him Shadow Foreign Secretary after he quits as Labour Party leader.

The party said a special conference due to be held on April 4 had been cancelled, along with remaining hustings events, with a spokeswoman saying a scaled-back event' would replace it.

Seb Corbyn, the Labour leader's second son and an aide to shadow chancellor John McDonnell, is taking the precautionary measure as the pandemic sweeps the country.

The outgoing Labour leader told the BBC he had been vindicated by the governments spending plans to tackle the havoc wreaked on the UK economy by the coronavirus outbreak.

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH: Covid-19 has swept across the world like a medieval plague from China and in its wake it has created one of the greatest health scares in modern history.

In a valedictory message to thousands of devoted followers on social media the outgoing opposition leader, 70, said he would continue to campaign on issues close to his heart from the back-benches.

New Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer has spent his first week on the job culling hard-left members of the Labour Shadow Cabinet, much to the anger of Momentum.

Politicians taking part in Prime Minister's Questions from the safety and comfort of their own homes were upstaged by their grandchildren and their interior design sense - or lack of it.

Rachel Riley stepped out for a refreshing stroll with her daughter amid her on going legal battle in libel claim against one of Jeremy Corbyn's aides.

Ministers should call on the NATO military alliance to use its resources to airlift PPE during the coronavirus outbreak, shadow defence secretary John Healey has said.

In part one of Sky News documentary Bad Blood/New Blood Turnbull ally Craig Laundy claimed Finance Minister Matthias Cormann's signing of the petition sealed the former PM's fate.

The former Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party was speaking at a business leaders forum hosted by the Queensland University of Technology on Tuesday when she compared the two former leaders.

A new book has shed light on the awkward government leadership meetings Barnaby Joyce was forced to attend after his affair with staffer Vikki Campion was sensationally exposed.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott on Friday revealed one of his daughters was 'soon to take up a position in the Australian embassy in Beijing'.

Mr Turnbull said the Liberal Party's failure to deliver a coherent and effective energy policy could be blamed on climate change deniers within its ranks.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Scott Morrison was wrong to speak to NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller about the investigation into Angus Taylor's office.

Former PM Malcolm Turnbull told guests at a Sydney yacht club Donald Trump was 'seeking to tear at' and destroy the United States. He met the US President at the White House in 2018.

The former prime minister and ex-Liberal Party leader shared a photo of Sydney shrouded in a haze of bushfire smoke as he flew back into the city following a speaker trip to Singapore.

Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has launched a scathing attack on Scott Morrison's government for making religion a central issue of the climate change debate. 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been slammed for holidaying in Hawaii during the bushfire crisis.