Keir Starmer does not want a contest for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party. He would like a supporter of his to be installed without a vote.
Hence the short timetable. Candidates have to scramble until 5pm on Thursday to secure nominations from 80 Labour MPs – which amounts to a fifth of the Labour benches. This is harder than it looks, because we can be sure that the whips are reminding MPs that their nominations will be made public, and that anyone nominating a candidate regarded as unhelpful to the government will be overlooked for promotion.
