EDUCATION Secretary Bridget Phillipson today joined the high-stakes fight to replace Angela Rayner as Deputy Labour Leader.

The loyal cabinet minister will take on a field of lefties jostling to win the coveted role and put a thorn in Sir Keir Starmer's side.

Announcing her candidacy, Ms Phillipson trumpeted her credentials as "a proud working-class woman from the north east".

She said: "I have come from a single parent family on a tough council

street, all the way to the Cabinet, determined to deliver better life chances for young people growing up in our country.

“I’ve taken on powerful vested interests in the education sector - and even as they threw everything at me, I have never taken a backwards step.

"I will bring that same determination to every battle ahead of us."

It comes

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