Lisa Nandy has what looks like an impossible task in what is now a three-way contest for the Labour leadership. She has to persuade Rebecca Long-Bailey supporters that she is very left wing, and a better salesperson for the Corbynite dream of socialism, while at the same time persuading some Keir Starmer supporters that she is not too Corbyn-like and, frankly, they really ought to have a female leader.

I’m assuming that Emily Thornberry won’t be on the ballot paper when nominations close on Valentine’s Day. She hasn’t got any nominations from trade unions, and so she needs 33 local Labour parties to support her instead. That is going to be very difficult for a candidate who is currently going to come fourth in most ballots of constituency parties.

According to a YouGov poll of Labour members, without Jess Phillips in the race, Starmer is likely to win on the first round of voting with 53 per cent of first preferences. That is why Nandy needs to bring Starmer down, so that she can at least take the voting to a second round. But she also needs to close the gap between her and Long-Bailey, which when the poll was taken last week was between 10 per cent for Nandy and 33 per cent for Long-Bailey.

Hence today’s assault on New Labour from Nandy. She said on the Today programme: “It is certainly true to say that the consensus that Thatcher built lasted all the way through the New Labour years.” This sounded very much like an echo of Zarah Sultana, the new Corbynite MP for Coventry, who called for an end of “40 years of Thatcherism” in her first speech in the House of Commons – and it was Sultana who introduced Long-Bailey at her leadership campaign launch.

The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Show all 8 1 /8 The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Keir Starmer The former director of public prosecutions undoubtedly has announced that he is standing for the leadership. He is highly-regarded by both left-wingers and centrists in the party. As Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary, he played a key role in the party’s eventual backing of a second referendum. Before becoming an MP, he was a human rights lawyer - conducting cases in international courts including the European Court of Human Rights. Launching his bid, Starmer said that Labour must listen to the public on how to change "restore trust in our party as a force for good." A YouGov poll places him comfortably in the lead as the preferred candidate of 36% of party members EPA The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Lisa Nandy Wigan MP Lisa Nandy has announced she wil stand for the leadership. In a letter to the Wigan Post she said she wanted to bring Labour "home" to voters in its traditional strongholds who have abandoned the party. Nandy went on to say that she understands "that we have one chance to win back the trust of people in Wigan, Workington and Wrexham." A YouGov poll shows that Nandy is the first preference for 6% of partymembers. Getty The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Rebecca Long Bailey A key ally of the current left-wing leadership of the party, the Salford & Eccles MP is viewed in some quarters as the natural successor to Mr Corbyn and describes herself as a “proud socialist”. Highly regarded by the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell. She won also won plaudits for her performance filling in for Corbyn both at prime minister’s questions and during the general election debates. The shadow business secretary grew up by Old Trafford football ground and began her working life serving at the counter of a pawn shop. Launching her leadership bid, Long Bailey said the party needs to make the positive case for immigration as a "positive force." She also broke with Corbyn over Trident, saying "If you have a deterrent you have to be prepared to use it." PA The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Angela Rayner - Deputy leadership Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner has joined the contest for deputy leadership of the party. After ruling herself out of running for the leadership, the Ashton-under-Lynne MP launched her bid for deputy warning that Labour faces the "biggest challenge" in its history and must "win or die." She is close with leadership contender Rebecca Long Bailey PA The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Rosena Allin-Khan - Deputy leadership Shadow sport minister Rosena Allin-Khan said Labour need to listen with "humility" to lost voters as she launched her bid for the deputy leadership. Writing in The Independent, the MP for Tooting refelcted: "We shouldn’t have ignored the warning signs in Scotland, and now we’ve paid the price in northern England, across the midlands and in Wales." PA The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Dawn Butler - Deputy leadership Shadow women and equalities secretary Dawn Butler was first to announce her bid for the deputy leadership. The Brent Central MP has served in Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet since 2016 PA The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Ian Murray - Deputy leadership Labour's only MP in Scotland said that the architects of the party's "catastrophic failure" in the December election can not be allowed to lead the party forward PA The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Richard Burgon - Deputy leadership Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon is standing as a continuity candidate, flaunting his loyalty to Jeremy Corbyn and saying it is wrong to blame the current leader for the election defeat PA

Nandy’s view is not as crude as Sultana’s. She praised the minimum wage and investment in health and education under the last Labour government as “complete game-changers” – but also said that in her work with homeless teenagers and child refugees she saw only “tinkering at the edges”.

She also refused to say who her favourite Labour leader was, telling Nick Robinson it was a “daft question”. It is also a dangerous one, because she knows that the same YouGov poll found that Jeremy Corbyn is the most favourably regarded leader by Labour members (71 per cent favourable; 29 per cent unfavourable). Naturally, Tony Blair, the most successful Labour leader, is the least favourably rated (37 per cent favourable; 62 per cent unfavourable).

So that is why Nandy’s campaign has run against New Labour – despite her resignation from Corbyn’s front bench in 2016, and despite her role as campaign manager for Owen Smith’s challenge to Corbyn’s leadership that year.

Her first answer to Andrew Neil, when she boldly took him on last week, talked about how she had “battled” the last Labour government over child refugees and fought her own party over “free schools when we supported them”.

Her calm yet combative style in interviews is a huge strength. There will have been many viewers – not just Labour supporters – who cheered when she asked Piers Morgan this morning why he brushed off claims of racism against the Duchess of Sussex​: “If you don’t mind me saying, how on earth would you know? As someone who’s never had to deal with ingrained prejudice?”

Her attempt to reinvent herself as a born-again Corbynite is unlikely to convince sectarian Momentum members, but her poses against what they see as the bad side of New Labour, as well as her composure on TV and in hustings, may well impress the so-called soft left among the wider Labour Party.

If it is true that 100,000 new members have joined the party since YouGov surveyed them last week, and if it is also true that many of them have joined or rejoined to vote against the Corbyn legacy, then Nandy may have a chance of closing that gap between her and Long-Bailey.