Left-wing MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy has said she did not secure the nominations required to make it into the next round of Labour’s deputy leadership contest.

It means it is now a two-horse race between Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and former Commons leader Lucy Powell, after the other three contenders pulled out.

In a statement on social media, Ms Ribeiro-Addy said: “Unfortunately, I have not secured the high number of nominations required to proceed in the deputy leadership contest. I am disappointed that the full range of Labour members’ views will not be represented on the ballot paper.”

The required nominations from fellow Labour MPs was 80, which Ms Phillipson surpassed yesterday evening with 116 votes. Ms Powell was just shy of the threshold at 77 as of 7pm Wednesday, however many MPs have declared their backing for her since so she is expected to make it through.

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Bell-Ribeiro-Addy

The deadline to reach 80 was 5pm Thursday. Nominations only opened on Tuesday, leading to accusations from the left of a “stitch-up” aimed at preventing outsiders from having time to shore up support.

Initially six people entered the contest, which was triggered by the resignation of Angela Rayner after she admitted to underpaying stamp duty on a flat she bought in Hove.

Housing minister Alison McGovern was first to drop out on Wednesday afternoon, conceding she was not going to get the support required. She had just two official nominations at the time.

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Dame Emily Thornberry and Paula Barker quit the race this morning, having less than 15 nominations each as of last night’s tally.

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Length of race ‘doesn’t feel right’

Many MPs had wanted a third candidate to make it to the next round to offer an alternative to Labour members – as Ms Powell and Ms Phillipson are seen to be similar.

Ms Powell, the MP for Manchester Central, was a member of government until last week when she was sacked in Sir Keir Starmer’s reshuffle.

One reluctant backer told Sky News that while she is “more left than Bridget” she is “hardly a socialist”.

However another of her supporters said she gave an impressive pitch at an online hustings event on Wednesday night, when she argued that no longer being in government would work in her favour.

They told Sky News: “Her pitch is that she’s been the shop steward of the parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) in government, but now she’s not in government, she can dedicate herself to the role of deputy leader full time without a department to run. She wants to focus on defining our voter coalition and making sure we’re speaking to them.”

The same MP suggested Ms Phillipson might be too bust to take on the deputy leadership role properly, especially as she is overseeing reforms to SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) “which could be a horror show”.

However, while Ms Powell might be the preferred choice for those who want a candidate independent of the party leadership, Ms Phillipson is popular with MPs loyal to the government.