When Phillips dropped out, she endorsed Lisa Nandy as her first preference choice and Keir Starmer as her second. Labour members, who make up the majority of the selectorate in this contest, are largely on the left of the party. While sticking with her “towns like mine” mantra, she has successfully reasserted herself as the “soft left” candidate and carved out a unique space in the contest. Rebecca Long-Bailey has the tricky job of denying that she is the “continuity Corbyn” candidate while firming up the votes of Corbyn supporters. Pressed for a policy priority by Andrew Neil, she even came up with the same answer as Phillips: social care.

Source: The Guardian January 25, 2020 07:52 UTC