Boris Johnson news: Five go forward in Labour leadership race after last-minute nominations scramble, as Tory ‘Festival of Brexit’ plans ridiculed
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Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry made it through to the next stage of the Labour leadership contest after Clive Lewis dramatically abandoned his bid moments before the deadline.
It comes as Boris Johnson visited Belfast and praised the “wonderful” compromise from all Northern Ireland’s political parties in getting Stormont back up and running after a three-year impasse.
Mr Johnson is to press ahead with a cultural celebration after the UK’s exit from the EU dubbed the “Festival of Brexit”, despite concerns about the £120m cost. The organiser has been mocked for claiming it will bring “joy, hope and happiness”.
To follow events as they unfolded, see our live coverage below
Ed Miliband backs Keir Starmer for Labour leader and Angela Rayner for deputy
Former Labour leader Ed Miliband has endorsed Keir Starmer for the top job - and Angela Rayner for deputy. Both candidates are safely on the ballot paper, having secured the minimum 22 backers.
Interestingly, it shows that the Rebecca Long Bailey/ Rayner joint ticket is not a sure thing. Starmer has soared ahead among MPs, with Long Bailey, the left's anointed candidate, struggling to pick up support.
Barry Gardiner, the shadow trade secretary, who mulled standing himself for about 24 hours, confirmed he has backed Rebecca Long Bailey and Dawn Butler.
PM: ‘I see the hand of the future, beckoning us all forward’
Boris Johnson has praised the “wonderful” compromise from all parties in getting Stormont back up and running after a three-year political impasse.
The PM was speaking at Stormont after talking with Northern Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster, from the DUP, and her deputy, Sinn Fein’s Michelle O'Neill.
The PM said: “I just want to say how grateful I am to all the parties, to everybody here in Northern Ireland, for the way they have compromised the way they have worked together to get Stormont up and running once again.
“It’s shown a willingness to trust each other and to set aside differences and I think it’s absolutely commendable and wonderful to see.”
The PM added: “Never mind the hand of history on my shoulder... I see the hand of the future beckoning us all forward. And I hope that with goodwill and compromise and hard work on all sides it will be a very bright future indeed.”
Rosena Allin-Khan secures enough nominations
Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan now has the 22 votes from colleagues she needs to make it to the next stage of the deputy leadership contest.
She joins candidates Angela Rayner, Ian Murray and Dawn Butler in the next round. But Richard Burgon is still struggling – with less than 90 minutes to go he is on 19 nominations.
Labour's deputy leadership candidates (Labour Party)
Corbyn’s former policy guru ‘leaning towards Long-Bailey’
Jeremy Corbyn’s former policy adviser Andrew Fisher says he hasn’t made up his mind on which Labour leadership candidate to vote for as a party member.
He told the BBC’s Politics Live he wanted to wait and see how they perform under “the dynamics of debate”.
Fisher said: “I’m probably leaning towards Rebecca Long-Bailey, instinctively, but I think Keir [Starmer] would make a very good leader as well.”
He explained Long-Bailey is “probably, of the leadership candidates, the closest to my own politics”.
Jess Phillips: ‘A woman cried like I was Take That or The Beatles’
The Labour leadership hopeful has been speaking to James O’Brien on LBC – and has spoken about how strange her rise to prominence on the opposition benches has been.
Asked about how “insane” it is to be recognised, she said: “A woman cried at the sight of me at the train station the other day as if I was Take That or The Beatles.
“For me, actually, the moment I thought, “There’s something here” was … I made a speech about the immigration bill in the House of Commons where I famously said, “I thought I’d met posh people but in fact I’d just met people who ate olives.”
“And I made passionate defence of migrant communities. And millions and millions of people watched me that clip of me in the House of Commons … I had no idea what would have cut-through. I suppose now is the time to lean in to that cut-through and get messages across.”
Phillips also said her children asked her told to give up politics after the murder of her colleague of Jo Cox. “My children have said to me, certainly after Jo was murdered, they said they didn't want me to carry on and they didn't think it was worth it.
“To which I told them that I thought it was and again, I say to them, if people like me go away then what future is there for our country if we're allowing fear to control our politics?”
Birmingham Yardley MP Jess Phillips (Reuters)
Clive Lewis withdraws from Labour leadership contest
The Norwich South MP, who appeared to be stuck on just five nominations, has withdrawn from the Labour leadership race in its final hour – urging his backers to recast their vote for someone else instead.
He stated: “At this stage, it’s clear that I won’t get on the ballot. So, I’m standing aside in the spirit of pluralism, diversity and generosity that I’ve promoted throughout this campaign, so that those who have supported me can recast their nominations.”
Lewis added: “I now throw down the gauntlet to other Labour leadership candidates and ask them if they are brave enough, strong enough, to take forward some of the issues in my manifesto. In the coming weeks I’ll be watching their responses closely before deciding who to support.”
Richard Burgon gets over the line
It looks like the shadow justice secretary – a staunch Corbyn loyalist – has got the 22 nominations he needs to go forward in the contest to replace Tom Watson as Labour’s deputy leader.
Labour's deputy leadership candidates (Labour Party)
Will Emily Thornberry make it?
The latest figures show shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry is the only remaining candidate yet to hit the 22 threshold before the close of nominations on Monday afternoon.
With only minutes to go she had only 21 confirmed supporters. Will Clive Lewis’ dramatic withdraw mean she gets over the line?
And then there were five - Thornberry makes it through
The shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry has done it – getting 23 nominations to make it through to the next round of the Labour leadership contest.
She will be joining Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy and Jess Phillips at the second stage, seeking nominations from constituency Labour parties and affiliates.
We’ve yet to find out how many, if any, of Clive Lewis’ five backers switched to Thornberry after he withdraw at the last-minute.
Labour leadership hopeful Emily Thornberry (Reuters)
Keir Starmer clear frontrunner with 89 nominations
We have the final number nominations in the Labour leadership contest, show shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer way out in front with 89 endorsements.
Rebecca Long-Baily got 33 – just two more than Lisa Nandy on 31. Like Emily Thornberry, Jess Phillips only just squeaked through with 23.
It means there will be five candidates competing for nominations from trade unions and local party branches in the second round.
Labour leadership candidates' nominations (Labour Party)
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