Sir Keir Starmer’s next political headache has been revealed amid the race to determine who his deputy will be. Host of The Daily Expresso JJ Anisiobi sat down with Express Assistant Editor James Walker to discuss the deputy prime minister leadership race in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation.

The pair discussed the current frontrunners and concluded that none of them could do a better job than the former housing minister. James said: “Controversial opinion – I think Angela Rayner is better than the lot.” To which JJ responded: “Oh, I wouldn’t disagree with that. Although as you can see…she has very poor judgement. Twice caught out over housing. Twice. So for that alone, she’s got to go.”

However, out of the current options, JJ picked Bridget Phillipson as his top choice.

He praised the minister for women and equalities’ rise into politics from her working class background, calling her “the exact kind of person I want leading the country”.

He added: “[She’s the] runaway favourite for me. I think she’s fantastic. She’s not from London…She’s from the north. She’s a northern woman. She’s from a single parent household and she’s working class.

“She’s done lots to help fight child poverty. When she was in the Department of Education she extended free school [meals] for kids. That’s the exact kind of person I want leading the country.”

A poll by Survation for LabourList revealed that Ms Phillipson has emerged as the top candidate among Labour members. She had a favourability raiting of +39%.

This refers to the percentage of members who said she is a good candidate, minus those who said she is a poor candidate.

The other candidates are Lucy Powell, Emily Thornberry, Paula Barker, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, and Alison McGovern.

Labour said other members who could throw their hat into the ring include Kim Leadbeater, Rosena Allin-Khan and Shabana Mahmood.

Richard Burgon, Dawn Butler, Lisa Nandy, Jess Phillips, and Anna Turley have all already ruled themselves out.