Photo by Steve Taylor/SOPA Images

Labour’s Deputy Leadership election officially began just after 9.30pm last night when the left-wing MP, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, announced her candidacy. The MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill and a member of the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG), Ribeiro-Addy said in a post on X: “I am putting myself forward to stand as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. I look forward to explaining why, over the three short and undemocratic days we have to do so.” She was the first MP to formally announce her challenge.

Ribeiro-Addy has already been crowned the left’s candidate. Within minutes of her announcement, she had received backing from fellow SCG members including Richard Burgon, Brian Leishman, Nadia Whittome and Andy McDonald. However, she was not the expected candidate from this faction. Doing the rounds at the TUC Conference on Monday, Burgon had been staunch in his criticism of the Government, describing the timeline for the election as the “mother of all stich ups”.

Burgon told a panel event that whoever eventually decided to run could not call themselves a left-wing candidate if they did not vote against the benefit cuts or for a ceasefire in Gaza. Some speculated that this was Burgon gearing up his own bid. Announcing his plans to back Bell, however, Burgon said: “Bell would ensure Labour members’ voices are heard at the top of our party – and not sidelined by yet more stitch-ups.”

To get on the ballot paper, Ribeiro-Addy must receive the backing of 80 MPs. It is very unlikely she will meet this threshold. There are a dwindling number of left-wing MPs on the Labour backbenches; of the 25 members of the SCG, five are currently sitting without the Labour whip (Rachael Maskell, Leishman, McDonnell, Apsana Begum and Diane Abbott) and therefore do not have a vote. Several have called for those currently suspended to be allowed to participate in the Deputy Leadership Election, but these calls are unlikely to be heeded by No 10.

But others on the left are also starting to organise. Though nothing has been confirmed yet, Paula Barker, the MP for Liverpool Wavertree is also rumoured to be considering a run. Barker was one of several MPs to put their name to the new soft-left group, Mainstream, which launched yesterday (as George Eaton reported) and which includes the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, among its members.

Ribeiro-Addy and Barker are unlikely to be expecting victory; Bridget Philipson’s announcement of her candidacy makes a defeat for the left almost inevitable. But that they were first off the starting blocks with Ribeiro-Addy’s announcement is significant. Despite spending most of the period since Angela Rayner’s resignation criticising the speed of this electoral timeline, the left was the first to field a candidate. Though unlikely to reign victorious in October, Keir Starmer should not underestimate the fury and tenacity of this faction.

[See also: Is Labour’s deputy leadership election the “mother of all stitch ups”? ]

Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month

Content from our partners