The 40-year-old Labour MP from Wigan announced her bid to join Labour leadership race, in a letter in the Wigan Post, on Friday. She is the fourth contender, after Birmingham Yardley MP Jess Phillips, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry and shadow treasury minister Clive Lewis; to have officially declared her bid.
The timetable for the leadership election is set to be decided by the party's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) on January 6. The contest will take place, as Jeremy Corbyn is stepping down as the party's leader after its election defeat, last month.
Who is Lisa Nandy?
A Member of Parliament since 2010, Nandy represents the safe Labour constituency of Wigan. She has served as shadow energy secretary from September 2015, up until June 2016, when she quit as a shadow minister, post Brexit referendum. Throughout the referendum campaign, she advocated for Britain to remain in the EU, but voted in favour of PM's Brexit deal in October.
She has constantly urged her party to concentrate on winning support in smaller towns and has also suggested moving party's headquarter out of London.
Lisa Nandy announces Labor leadership bid
In an unconventional way, Nandy announced her contest bid in an open letter to her constituents, in a local newspaper.
In her letter, she said that she wants to "bring Labour home" to voters that have abandoned the party in its traditional strongholds. She further said that Labour wouldn't win another general election, without the support from its former strongholds. Labour should give "power and resources" to people in "every town, city, region and nation in the UK", she further wrote.
"I am determined to defeat Boris Johnson in order to lead the compassionate, radical, dynamic government that I firmly believe you want and deserve", the leadership contender wrote.
The contest will be held as party leader Jeremy Corbyn is stepping down after party's defeat in the 2019 general elections, that brought Labour seats in House of Commons, lowest since 1935.
