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Exclusive: Diane Abbott has made it on to the ballot

UPDATE: Straw last MP to sign +++ Historic moment as Labour’s big guns come together to broaden fiel

By James Macintyre

Diane Abbott will within minutes be in a position to declare she has the 33 nominations to feature on the ballot for the Labour leadership, to be decided in September, NS.com has learned.

David Miliband has in the past hour nominated her, joining other big party figures such as Harriet Harman and, before her, David Lammy. The remaining MPs required are signing her nominations during Prime Minister’s Questions.

“This is about the party coming together,” said one MP inside the Abbott camp. “This is a historic moment, less because she is a woman and more because she is the first black contender for the leadership.”

Here is how I explained earlier in the week how Abbbott, though behind, might yet make it.

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UPDATE: Jack Straw has just become the last MP to sign for Abbott.

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