Labour leadership contender Jess Phillips has called for a citizens’ assembly on how Britain should tackle climate change, as part of what she called a six-point plan to restore trust in democracy.

Labour’s manifesto called for a “green industrial revolution” to pour investment into clean technologies, partly funded by a windfall tax on oil companies – a policy fronted by the leftwing favourite for the leadership, Rebecca Long-Bailey.

The plans were thrashed out in consultation with trade unions, after Labour members passed a motion at their autumn conference calling for an ambitious target of hitting net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.

In an article in the Guardian, Phillips, whose campaign slogan is “speak truth, win power”, said the public should be more directly involved in determining what policies Britain should adopt to tackle the climate crisis.

“On climate breakdown, we need a plan that involves the public much more. Citizens’ assemblies are increasingly used around the world to build consensus. In Ireland, they helped pave the way for the historic changes on abortion, while in Poland they improved government response to major flooding. It’s time we used them here,” she said.

Citizens’ assemblies see ordinary members of the public confront social or political challenges politicians have been unable to resolve. Facilitated by experts, and combining small-group discussions with large-scale debates and a series of votes, they are aimed at removing the conflicts of interest and tribal loyalties that can hamper politicians in reaching a conclusion.

As well as calling for the wider use of citizens’ assemblies, Phillips adopts some of the proposals for political reform advocated by Clive Lewis, the leftwing Norwich South MP who dropped out of the leadership race on Monday after failing to secure adequate support from MPs.

She said the electoral system should be changed – “so that parliament better reflects votes cast” – and the House of Lords reformed.

Her other proposals include devolution to local authorities; automatic voter enrolment; and creating a new watchdog to regulate online political advertising, funded by an advertising levy.

“If people are to trust our electoral process, we urgently need to combat fake news during campaigns. Apart from Twitter, which has banned political adverts, the social media giants aren’t stepping up,” she said.

Phillips was one of the five contenders who passed the first hurdle to getting on the ballot paper on Monday, by securing the backing of 23 MPs and MEPs.

She is a women’s rights campaigner and well-liked by colleagues in the House of Commons, but is viewed with suspicion by some on the left of the party, because of her criticisms of Jeremy Corbyn.

Phillips announced a twelve-person campaign team on Tuesday, jointly chaired by former Grimsby MP Melanie Onn and Ilford North MP Wes Streeting.

Onn and Streeting said: “We have represented different parts of the country and had different views on Brexit, but we both know Jess is the person to bring our party and our country together.”