Ms Long-Bailey is currently running to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour leadership race.  She is the second favourite to win after Sir Keir Starmer, and is widely considered to be Mr Corbyn’s socialist successor. She has been in Labour’s shadow cabinet since 2017 and recently caused a stir when she rated that Mr Corbyn’s controversial time as leader as a 10 out of 10. She was also backed by Momentum, the left-wing pressure group which overwhelmingly supported Mr Corbyn throughout his time as Labour leader.

Yet Ms Long-Bailey caused controversy herself when, in the middle of January this year, The Sunday Times revealed how she had made “inaccurate statements” about her legal career.

Reportedly, during her unveiling as Labour candidate for Salford and Eccles in 2014, she declared: “I have been working as a solicitor with the NHS in Manchester for the past 10 years.”

Yet, Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) claimed she only qualified in November 2007.

That means by the time she was standing as Labour candidate, she had practised as a solicitor for only six and a half years. 

Even during her 2015 general election, she sent out leaflets which claimed: “I studied law and became a solicitor for the NHS to help defend our health service.”

The Sunday Times reported that she spent her career as a solicitor at Hill Dickinson, a commercial law firm, and was never employed by the NHS.

She refused to comment at the time, although an insider said she had been a “trainee solicitor, paralegal and a solicitor” in the 11 years leading up to 2014.

The source said: “Rebecca has said that in the course of her work as a solicitor she became very aware of privatisation taking place in the NHS in the contracts she saw.”

The SRA claimed such dishonesty is “likely to result in the most serious disciplinary sanction, being struck off the roll”, due to the severity of “misrepresenting” a legal CV.

Sources also said Ms Long-Bailey had worked for the NHS through the health division of Hill Dickinson – meaning she specialised in commercial property. 

An ex-partner at the firm who worked at the same office as the Labour leadership hopeful tore her claims that she had defended the NHS apart.

He said: “It was …administrative work, contracts for NHS-owned property or assets, nothing like ‘saving’ the NHS.”

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Ms Long-Bailey has becoming an increasingly divisive figure throughout her leadership campaign.

The Independent reported yesterday that up to 40 MPs were considering quitting if Ms Long-Bailey succeeds as the Labour leader.

She ruffled some feathers within the Parliamentary Labour Party when she showed her backing for open selections, which means local branches could kick out their MPs with ease.

Bermondsey and Old Southwark MP Neil Coyle told HuffPost UK: “Continuity Corbyn is a death knell for Labour.

“Division, factionalism and introspection will continue.

“Favouritism and bullying will continue. Antisemitism will continue. Failure in elections will continue. More MPs and others will leave.

“The frontbench will continue to fail to reflect members. It’s a recipe for disaster.”

Ms Long-Bailey has been criticised over her time within the Labour Party too, as she only joined in 2010.

Her team was also criticised this week for supposedly reporting Sir Keir’s campaign for a data breach, but Ms Long-Bailey has denied any such suggestion.

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