Everything you need to know about Labour leadership candidate Lisa Nandy
Come April, the Labour Party will have a new leader. But who on earth will it be?
After a disastrous result in the December General Election which saw Jeremy Corbyn defeated decisively by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Labour party is well on its way to electing a new head - and there's a good chance it could be a woman.
Labour has never had a female party leader (unlike the Tories, who’ve had two) and there are some excellent candidates in Lisa Nandy, Rebecca Long-Bailey, and Emily Thornberry (Jess Phillips dropped out earlier this month). They all passed the first round of the leadership contest alongside Keir Starmer but, so far, only Starmer and Lisa Nandy have the required backing to reach the second stage. It's worth noting, though, that only Labour Party members can vote in the leadership elections.
Until now, Lisa Nandy has been a relatively unknown member of the opposition party - she doesn't have the star power of, say, Jess Phillips, or the longstanding credentials of Harriet Harman. So who is she and what does she stand for?
Who is Lisa Nandy?
Lisa is the MP for Wigan and has served since 2010. She has held many roles in parliament, including private secretary to Tessa Jowell, shadow charities minister and shadow energy secretary. In 2016, she quit the shadow cabinet and resigned the latter post in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. In 2017, she also set up Centre for Towns, a think tank focusing on British towns.
Prior to becoming an MP, she worked in the charity sector, including for The Children's Society. The 40-year-old is well-respected by many of her parliamentary colleagues.
What does Lisa Nandy believe in?
A remainer in a leave-voting seat, Lisa claims to be able to unite the Labour party. "My leave voting constituents are no more racist little Englanders than my friends who voted remain are liberal elitists," she said at a Labour leadership hustings. "We should never allow the Tories to divide us, young against old, citizen against migrant, north against south, town against city. We have got to raise our game."
During a BBC interview with Andrew Neil, Lisa said: she doesn't support additional referendums on Scottish independence or Brexit: "I think once you've asked people to decide and they make a decision, the job is then to pull together. I think this country has had enough of referendums."
Asked by Andrew Neil what qualifies her to be a potential future Prime Minister, she replied: "I've fought many battles... including taking on the last Labour government about getting child refugees out of Yarlswood Immigration Detention Centre."
She also said that she supports the abolition of tuition fees, but starting with restoring Education Maintenance Allowance and university grants.
On her decision to stand, Nandy said: "When people said [after the 2019 election] we need a different type of leadership and a different type of leader, I thought now was the time to step up."
Earlier this month, she also went on ITV's Good Morning Britain amid the Meghan Markle racism row. In response to Piers Morgan suggesting that the coverage of Meghan wasn't to do with the colour of her skin, Nandy said: "How on earth would you know? As somebody who has never had to deal with ingrained prejudice, you're not in a position to understand people who have."
Who supports Lisa Nandy?
After dropping out of the leadership race, Jess Phillips offered her backing to Nandy, saying: "I think Lisa Nandy is a brilliant woman and would be a brilliant leader of the Labour Party." She has also been endorsed by a raft of Labour MPs, including Stella Creasy, Jon Ashworth and Melanie Onn.
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