Labour figures suggest Rebecca Long-Bailey should not be next party leader

Shadow Business Secretary Ms Long-Bailey is still yet to formally declare her candidacy but outlined her vision for the party in a newspaper column over the weekend.

She is seen as the most closely aligned to left-winger Mr Corbyn and is backed by many of his supporters.

But Labour's Warley MP John Spellar and Ian Austin, the former Dudley North MP and outspoken critic of Mr Corbyn, were quick to suggest on social media that she is not the right person to lead the party.

Ms Long-Bailey is likely to face competition from Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer, Emily Thornberry and Lisa Nandy to replace Mr Corbyn.

Responding to her column, Mr Austin, who quit the Labour Party before endorsing Boris Johnson earlier this year, posted on Twitter: "Where is the bit about tackling the extremism, racism and intolerance that poisoned the party under Jeremy Corbyn? Wasn’t there space for that bit?"

Meanwhiel John Spellar, who served as a minister under Tony Blair and is now only one of three Black Country Labour MPs, retweeted a post from former Labour MP Michael Dugher which said electing Ms Long-Bailey would be "continuity Corbynism".

It comes after former deputy leader and West Bromwich East MP Tom Watson said he stepped down before the election because of the “brutality and hostility” within the party.

He also admitted voting for Mr Corbyn's rival Owen Smith at the leadership election in 2016.

In her column, Ms Long-Bailey blamed the party’s “compromise solution” on Brexit, as well as a lack of trust among voters, for its crushing defeat at the General Election earlier this month.

She claimed Labour “can win again” but said the party must first “come together”, as she gave her backing to shadow education secretary Angela Rayner for the role of deputy leader.