Emily Thornberry has said she is confident she can secure the backing of enough
Labour MPs to make it onto the ballot paper in the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn.
The shadow foreign secretary currently has 10 nominations – 12 short of the 22 she needs by the deadline of 2.30pm on Monday.
She told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning there were a “large number of MPs who haven’t nominated yet.
“From the conversations I have had this weekend I am fairly confident that, as long as I don’t get any slippage, I will be fine. I am going to get across the line and then we will move on to the next stage.
“It is a long contest and it will have its ups and downs. I have been a slow starter, but I did start from a standing start after the general election.”
Thornberry had at one point been seen as the obvious candidate to succeed Corbyn.
Last week she rated him “0 out of 10” for his performance at the general election.
Keir Starmer remains the clear favourite among Labour MPs and was the first of the six contenders for leader to secure the 22 nominations.
Rebecca Long Bailey, the favourite of the current leadership, has also passed the threshold. As have backbenchers Lisa Nandy and Jess Phillips.
Shadow Treasury minister Clive Lewis, with just four, appears to be struggling.
While Starmer has had the strongest start to the campaign, Long Bailey yesterday picked up the endorsement of leftwing grassroots campaign group Momentum.
Following a meeting of its steering group, it said it had agreed unanimously that the shadow business secretary is the “only viable candidate” to continue Corbyn’s “socialist agenda”.
The group said it is also recommending its members support shadow education secretary Angela Rayner as deputy, arguing the two would work well together to form a “united front against the Tories”.Related... Rebecca Long Bailey Pledges To Abolish House of Lords