Labour leadership election: Rebecca Long-Bailey endorsed by green campaign group Labour for a Green New Deal Exclusive: LGND was set up to champion plans for an overhaul of Britain’s economy to cut carbon emissions to zero within a few years

Rebecca Long-Bailey has received a boost to her Labour leadership campaign after being endorsed by the party’s radical green campaign group.

Labour for a Green New Deal (LGND) is backing the pro-Corbyn candidate to be the next party leader as she fights to overcome the polling lead of frontrunner Keir Starmer.

The endorsement comes a few days before Labour members are set to receive their ballots. Ms Long-Bailey and Sir Keir are joined on the shortlist by Lisa Nandy.

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LGND, which was set up to champion plans for a fundamental overhaul of Britain’s economy to cut carbon emissions to zero within a few years, questioned all the candidates on their green policies. They then scored them all out of 100 based on their answers and public statements on the topic: Ms Long-Bailey had 80 points with Sir Keir on 51 and Ms Nandy getting 39.

‘Scale and urgency needed’

A spokesperson said: “Rebecca Long-Bailey stands out as a Green New Deal champion for her understanding of the scale and urgency of the transition we need, and her commitment to building a socialist climate programme rooted in people’s lives.

“In the year the UK hosts COP 26, however, all candidates must go further in acting on our responsibility to support those on the front lines of the climate crisis. The coming decades will see millions forced to flee their homes by fires, floods, storms and droughts. The next Labour leader must stand unwaveringly for migrant and climate justice – at home and abroad, there’s much more work to be done.”

Ms Long-Bailey welcomed the endorsement, saying: “I’m delighted to receive Labour For A Green New Deal’s backing for leader. We worked together to unite party members, trade unions and climate activists around a radical decarbonisation plan with a 2030 target.

“We need a leader who will make sure that 2024 is a climate election, and that Labour wins. I will make sure that the organising needed to build a winning coalition around a Green New Deal starts on the day I’m elected leader, in every workplace and community.”

The shadow Business Secretary has put a “green industrial revolution” at the heart of her leadership campaign and has backed the policy of reducing the UK’s net carbon emissions to zero by 2030, just a decade away. The Government is committed to a net zero deadline of 2050.

Sir Keir was previously endorsed by SERA, the longer-running environmental campaign within the Labour party.