Emily Thornberry begs Labour members to 'get on and nominate me' for party leader
2 min read
Emily Thornberry has made a desperate plea for Labour members to put her through to the final round of the party's leadership race.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary is struggling to get enough nominations to make it onto the ballot paper alongside Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy.
Ms Thornberry has so far received nine nominations from Constituency Labour Parties - well short of the 33 she needs to go through.
At a leadership hustings debate on Sunday, she said she was the "most experienced" of all those running.
"We should have a debate that has the widest possible selection for members, and given my foreign policy experience, given my security experience, I think I raise their game," she said.
Ms Thornberry said Labour members - who will ultimately decide who succeeds Jeremy Corbyn - should "actually get a choice of four excellent candidates" instead of just three.
"So please, would you just get on, would you just get on and nominate me? I mean, please, really," she said.
The Islington South MP has until 14 February to get the required number of CLP nominations, or else she would be eliminated from the race.
Last week, Ms Thornberry was forced to apologise for telling another hustings event that she "hates the SNP".
She told the House of Commons: "Could I take a brief moment to apologise to my colleagues on the SNP benches for the language I used in the heat of hustings last week.
"When we are debating the Middle East it is a salutary reminder to me both in that there is no place for hate in our politics and also that on almost every foreign policy issue, including this one, we have opposed the Tory government together, and I’m sorry for what I’ve said."
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