Labour leadership challenger Lisa Nandy has said she would vote to abolish the monarchy at a referendum but admitted she would 'quite like to see' Meghan Markle one day become Queen.

Ms Nandy told a televised hustings event last night that as a 'democrat' she would vote to 'scrap' the Royal family but revealed a soft spot for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

It came as her rival, Rebecca Long-Bailey, refused to pick a favourite former leader of the Labour Party as she continued to try to distance herself from Jeremy Corbyn.

The shadow business secretary - who gave Mr Corbyn a ten out of ten rating for his leadership after he led the party to its worst election results since the 1930s - proclaimed: 'There is no such thing as Corbynism.'

Lisa Nandy, pictured left during last night's Channel 4 debate, said she would vote to scrap the monarchy while Rebecca Long-Bailey refused to name her favourite Labour leader of the past 50 years

However, Ms Nandy did reveal a soft spot for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as she said she would 'quite like to see' Meghan Markle one day become Queen

@lisanandy: “I would vote to scrap it.”



All the candidates are asked “in a referendum on keeping the monarchy, would you vote to keep it or scrap it?” #C4Debate pic.twitter.com/hmm4OMbUUF — Channel 4 (@Channel4) February 17, 2020

Channel 4 Labour hustings key points: Reinforcing defeat: Rebecca Long-Bailey said 'there is not one [policy] that I would drop' when asked if she would drop any ideas from the last Labour manifesto - which handed Boris Johnson an 80-seat majority.

Yeah but no: 'We had people voting Tory in order to tell us that we had to change' - Lisa Nandy disagreed with her somewhat bluntly

'There is no such thing as Corbynism. There is our Labour values' - Ms Long-Bailey attacked the idea she is the Corbyn candidate

No decriminalisation of cannabis: None of the candidates backed it, although Sir Keir came closest, saying he would not decriminalise it immediately.

Don't mention Blair (or Corbyn): None of the candidates said that triple-election winning PM Tony Blair or current party chief Jeremy Corbyn was Labour's best leader of the past 50 years. Advertisement

Who has made it into the final round of the Labour leadership contest? Voting in the Labour leader and deputy leader contests will start next Monday and close on April 2 with the winners announced on April 4. There are three candidates in the running to replace Jeremy Corbyn: Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy. There are five candidates in the running to be the next deputy leader: Angela Rayner, Rosena Allin-Khan, Richard Burgon, Ian Murray and Dawn Butler. Advertisement

Ms Nandy and Ms Long-Bailey are two of the final three candidates in the race to replace Mr Corbyn.

Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, is the third person still in the running and he is the overwhelming favourite to win the top job.

Ms Nandy risked derailing her campaign after she admitted she wanted to abolish the monarchy.

A YouGov poll published in May 2018 revealed that more than two thirds (69 per cent) of Britons consider themselves to be monarchists while just 21 per cent do not want a Royal family.

The trio of leadership rivals were asked at a Channel 4 Labour leadership debate how they would vote if there was a referendum on keeping the Royal family.

Ms Nandy replied: 'I'm a democrat, so I would vote to scrap it. But this is not the priority of the country.'

But she added: 'I'd quite like to see Queen Meghan at some point.'

Sir Keir said he would not vote to scrap the monarchy but said he would 'down size it'.

Ms Long-Bailey said 'we have got more important things to worry about' but insisted she 'wouldn't vote to abolish the monarchy'.

Meanwhile, the challengers were also asked to name their favourite Labour leader from the last 50 years.

Ms Nandy picked veteran Labour MP Barbara Castle and described her as the best leader Labour never had while Sir Keir opted for Harold Wilson who was PM in the 1960s and 1970s.

But Ms Long-Bailey declined to choose anyone. None of the trio mentioned Tony Blair, Labour's most electorally successful leader, or Mr Corbyn.

Ms Long-Bailey has the backing of the current party leadership in the race to succeed Mr Corbyn.

Sir Keir Starmer, pictured during last night's Channel 4 debate, said he would not scrap the Royal family but called for it to be downsized

Labour activists ditch 'Corbynism' Labour Party members appear to be abandoning the politics of Jeremy Corbyn in favour of a more moderate leader, a new analysis suggested today. More than half of Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) which backed Mr Corbyn in the leadership contest in 2015 have endorsed soft-left candidate Sir Keir Starmer this year. And half of those who backed Mr Corbyn in the 2016 run-off against Owen Smith are also supporting the shadow Brexit secretary. The numbers suggest he warrants his position as the bookies' favourite to take over, but they will be a blow to Rebecca Long-Bailey, who is being backed by Mr Corbyn's top team and hardline campaign group Momentum. Ms Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, has praised the outgoing leader despite his massive election failure, rating his tenure as ten out of ten and suggesting he could have a place in her shadow cabinet. Although not all Labour Party members have to be a member of a CLP and all can vote independently, the figures suggest the party could be ready for a less divisive and softer centre-left leader. Advertisement

But she has repeatedly insisted she is not the 'continuity Corbyn' candidate despite her long-standing backing for the incumbent and her commitment to continuing with his policies.

Last night she again tried to put open water between her and Mr Corbyn as she claimed 'Corbynism' does not exist.

She said: 'There is no such thing as Corbynism. There is our Labour values.

'If we believe in building more council homes, investing in our futures through education and industrial strategy - that's socialism. That's not Corbynism and we shouldn't throw away those policies.'

Voting in the Labour leadership contest starts on February 24 and stops on April 2 with a winner due to be announced on April 4.

The deadline to proceed to the final round of the contest was last Friday when Emily Thornberry fell just short of making it through.

Candidates needed to secure the backing of a selection of major unions or alternatively secure the support of at least 33 constituency Labour parties to progress.

Sir Keir, Ms Nandy and Ms Long-Bailey all won major union backing as well as CLP support.

But Ms Thornberry did not receive any major union backing and then failed to hit the magic number of CLPs.