Labour leadership candidate Emily Thornberry has taken aim at two of her rivals as the prominent Remainer struggles to stay in the contest. The shadow foreign secretary branded Sir Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey as “machine politicians” during a stunning outburst yesterday. She suggested the two leading contenders started their leadership pitches well before the end of the general election, where Labour suffered a disastrous defeat.

This comes as Ms Thornberry struggles to get the necessary backing from trade unions and constituency Labour parties (CLPs) to move onto the next stage of the contest.

Speaking to ITV’s Calling Peston podcast, the MP took a swipe at her rivals for preparing their leadership pitches before the start of the general election campaign.

She told ITV News there was a “squeeze” to make it through to the final ballot of party members because of Sir Keir and Ms Long-Bailey dominating opposite wings of the party.

The Labour figure said: “The truth is that I had a standing start, so I threw everything into the general election and I started after the general election.”

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Ms Thornberry continued: “I don’t think that’s necessarily the case with everybody else.

“I started after the general election and we now have two machines, and we have two machine politicians, one on the left and one may be perceived to be on the right.

“And there’s a bit of squeeze going on.”

Asked to confirm who she was talking about, Ms Thornberry replied: “Rebecca on the left and Keir on the right.”

Having initially been required to secure the support of Labour MPs and MEPs, the candidates are now battling to ensure they make it to the final round of the contest.

The 59-year-old is banking on a sudden surge in support for local parties, since it is not clear if any trade unions will back her.

Sir Keir and Wigan MP Lisa Nandy are the only two of the four remaining candidates to have made it through to the final stage.

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They were both backed by at least two unions and one socialist groups representing at least five per cent of the total affiliated membership.

Ms Long-Bailey, the Shadow Business Secretary, is widely expected to secure nomination from Unite, an endorsement that could pave the way for her to reach the ballot stage.

As of last night according to the Labour List tally, Ms Thornberry needed a further 30 CLPs to support her before 14th February.

The winner of the leadership contest will be announced at the start of April. 

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