The Education Secretary kicked off her campaign in her home town of Sunderland seeking to reunify the fractious party after the resignation of Angela Rayner.

Ms Phillipson, the Education Secretary, and Ms Powell, the former Commons Leader, are expected to go head-to-head in the next stage in the contest to replace Angela Rayner .

Education secretary and Manchester MP are only candidates to clear threshold to enter party members’ ballot

She is one of only two candidates to secure enough support from fellow MPs to make it past the first round of nominations

The Education Secretary kicked off her campaign in her home town of Sunderland seeking to reunify the fractious party after the resignation of Angela Rayner.

Education secretary says now is not time to ‘look backwards’ as Powell vows to be ‘independent voice’