Labour's Jess Phillips set to enter race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn

Jess Phillips Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Labour MP Jess Phillips is poised to announce her candidacy in the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as party leader.

The backbencher is expected to announce her widely anticipated bid for leadership following Labour's worst performance at a general election since 1935.

The Birmingham Yardley MP will join shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry and shadow treasury minister Clive Lewis as those to have formally declared their bids.

Others who are also considering leadership bids include shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, close Corbyn ally Rebecca Long-Bailey and Wigan MP Lisa Nandy. Yvette Cooper is also thought to be considering her options too.

Ms Phillips has previously laid out her vision of leadership in the Acting Prime Minister podcast with ITV News political correspondent Paul Brand.

Brand says her team plan to run a "pretty bold campaign" and are willing "to take big risks" to help push her position in the leadership race.

She appears to be a popular choice among Labour members, where she came third in a YouGov survey of the membership behind both Sir Keir and shadow business secretary Ms Long-Bailey.

Sir Keir would beat Ms Long-Bailey, who is the favoured candidate of key figures in the current leadership, in a run-off 61% to 39%, according to the early survey.

But the other candidates will be hoping to boost their profiles with the race not expected to formally get under way until Tuesday and a new leader not expected until the end of March.

Sir Keir Starmer could enter the contest and is favourite among members, according to polls. Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA

Labour’s election performance that helped Boris Johnson’s Tories win an 80-strong majority has been the subject of an intense post-mortem examination.

The party’s Brexit position, Mr Corbyn’s unpopularity and his ambitious left-wing programme have all been the subject of scrutiny.