This is our first look at the Corbyn successor betting since it entered its second stage – the battle for nominations from constituency parties, and affiliated organisations a segment that includes the trade unions. This will continue for more than a month before the ballot packs go out to the party’s selectorate. Contenders have to reach a certain level of nominations to make it to the postal vote.

As the chart shows there has been a little bit of levelling off of support for Starmer but he’s still at over 70%. His main worry, I’d suggest, is the gender issue and the fact that the party has never had a female leader. Interestingly Yvette Cooper, a former leadership contender, has now come out for Starmer. On 5Live today she said:

‘There’s lots of strong women standing… you know it’s been a hard decision for me as well about who to nominate in this race because I have always argued it’s time we had a Labour woman leader and we also need a Labour woman prime minister. ‘We are not going to get any of that unless we also have a way to turn around the problems Labour are facing at the moment, and so I nominated Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner because I think they are the best people to get us out of the hole that we’re in.’

That’s an important move from someone who looked set to be leader in 2015.

Mike Smithson