Phillipson the frontrunner as six female Labour MPs enter deputy leader race

Alison McGovern and Paula Barker latest to join contest, as well as Emily Thornberry, Lucy Powell and Bell Ribeiro-Addy

• Who is in the running for deputy leader?

Bridget Phillipson has thrown her hat in the ring for the Labour deputy leadership contest, becoming the early favourite to win as she is most likely to meet the threshold of MP nominations.

While Labour party members, many of whom are to the left of Keir Starmer’s leadership, could be suspicious of the education secretary’s role as a serving cabinet minister, she is likely to be seen by MPs as No 10’s de facto candidate and so will secure much of the “payroll” vote.