Candidates will need backing of 80 MPs by 5pm on Thursday if they wish to stand
The Labour party has confirmed that candidates to be deputy leader will have to obtain the required backing of 80 MPs by 5pm on Thursday, when nominations will close. It has issued this timetable, which also says the winner will be announced on Saturday 25 October.
To stand, as well as being nominated by at least 20% of the PLP (ie, by 80 MPs), candidates also need to be nominated by at least 5% of constituency Labour parties (CLPs) or by at least three affiliated organisations (of which two must be trade unions) comprising at least 5% of the affiliated membership.
The Labour MP Stella Creasy has declined to rule out running for deputy leader. In an interview on the World at One, asked if she would be a candidate, Creasy did not say no, and instead said she wanted to see the party have a debate about the future. “I think has happened if we are honest is that we have narrowed rather than broadened our ability to have our debates in a constructive fashion,” she said.
When it was put to her that she was not ruling out being a candidate, she said:
