Labour’s website now features submitted nominations – is Ed Miliband gaining momentum?

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

Ed Miliband may have gained real momentum in his campaign for the party leadership today, as he passed the threshold of required MPs to be officially nominated in the race.

Launching a new sprucing of its website in a bid to capitalise on the leadership contest and gain as many new members as possible, Labour.org.uk now shows the candidates’ official nomination submissions.

Ed Miliband’s page shows 35 nominations, but other MPs who have publicly declared their support bring his unoffcial total to 39. Newly announced backers on the Labour Party website today include John Denham, Frank Dobson, Stephen Timms and Chuka Umunna.

Ed Miliband is therefore the first candidate to be officially nominated to be in the contest, though David Miliband is also thought to have the required backing of 33 MPs in the PLP or more.

This trend chart from Political Scrapbook shows the leadership probabilities implied from odds offered by bookmakers. While David Miliband is still odds-on favourite his position has slipped slightly in relation to his brother Ed Miliband and Andy Burnham: