An emotional musical tribute to Jess Phillips and her all-too-brief leadership campaign - this is “Kendall in the Wind” pic.twitter.com/bS9X3MJJdX

— TheIainDuncanSmiths (@TheIDSmiths) January 22, 2020

Lisa Nandy had a good day yesterday, with Jess Phillips dropping out and securing the GMB’s nomination (putting her just one endorsement away from a place on the final ballot). Focus grouping by Channel 4, however, will have put a final spring in her step. 

Whilst she was clearly an unknown—in comparison to Jess Phillips and Emily Thornberry—clips of her feisty Andrew Neil interview went down well with the group of former Labour voters in Birmingham Northfield who switched to the Tories in December. Channel 4 previously ran the focus group in early December and predicted the flipping of the seat…

Rebeca Long-Bailey does not go down as well, the group, were not so keen on Starmer either, calling him “weak”, “boring”, “arrogant”, “a bit like David Cameron” and “corporate“.

Boris remained very popular with the Tory-voting defectors, some of whom were surprised he has continued focusing on policies like the NHS even after the election.

Labour members have another three months to reflect on these findings before inevitably making a wrong decision…

Jess Phillips’s leadership slogan is the very bold “Speak Truth. Win Power.”; her pinned tweet accompanying her campaign launch video says “politics needs honest voices”. 

Almost every profile on Jess talks about her extensive education; having studied at the University of Leeds before going on to “study for a postgraduate diploma in public sector management at the University of Birmingham”.

Jess has also referenced her postgraduate qualifications in Twitter disputes

However Jess didn’t complete her postgraduate course, dropping out in the final stages and never returning after being elected a councillor – confirmed by both someone on her course at the time, and her office. So can she really say she had post-graduate qualifications if she did not complete her studies?…

There are many unexpected friendships and bedfellows amongst MPs, however a new unpredicted pairing has come about owing to their mutual desires to rule the world. Boris Johnson and Jess Phillips… 

Speaking in a Sunday Times interview, Jess spoke of her upbringing by “rabid feminists” who told her there was nothing girls could do that boys couldn’t, leading to her declaring she wanted to be World Queen. Rachel Johnson has constantly brought up her anecdote of a young Boris declaring his desire to be World King. Turns out the next election could be about a bit more than just the future of the UK…