REBECCA LONG BAILEY vowed that the Labour Party would compete “toe-to-toe” against Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s adviser Dominic Cummings if she becomes leader.

The shadow business secretary said that she wants to establish a media-rebuttal unit and put a greater emphasis on digital campaigning.

Speaking at a leadership hustings in Brighton on Saturday, Ms Long Bailey said that Labour would need to become “ruthless” and “forensic” in fighting back if it was to beat the Conservatives in the next election.

She said that Labour had been “nowhere near” the Conservative Party when competing for votes at the December 2019 general election.

When leading the campaign operation at Vote Leave during the referendum, Mr Cummings was praised for successfully targeting Eurosceptic voters through online and social media advertising.

Mr Johnson credits him with penning the “Get Brexit done” slogan that helped usher in his Tory landslide victory.

Sir Keir Starmer, shadow Brexit secretary, told attendees that outgoing leader Jeremy Corbyn faced higher levels of “vilification” by the press than any Labour leader before him.

He added: “This is a culture war. It is very important we diversify the press, we call out the vilification, but that we stand up for an independent and free press.”