By Editor,Greg Heffer

Copyright dailymail

Bridget Phillipson today claimed she’s been the victim of ‘sexist’ briefings as she attempted to distance herself from a ‘boys club’ in Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street.

The Education Secretary is standing for Labour’s deputy leadership and is viewed as No10’s candidate in a head-to-head contest against sacked minister Lucy Powell.

Ms Powell was removed as Commons Leader this month and has cast herself as the ‘independent choice’ in her battle against Ms Phillipson, who remains a Cabinet minister.

But, in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live this afternoon, Ms Phillipson tried to dispel the idea that she is Downing Street’s pick to replace Angela Rayner as deputy leader.

She highlighted some of the negative headlines she has faced since becoming Education Secretary, including being among those the Prime Minister has been tipped to sack.

Earlier this year, before she was forced to resign as Deputy PM and Labour deputy leader, Ms Rayner herself lashed out at No10 briefings against female ministers.

It came after ex-transport secretary Louise Haigh had claimed northern Cabinet ministers – such as Ms Phillipson and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy – were being targeted by some within Downing Street.

Asked if she felt she had been the victim of sexist briefings, Ms Phillipson told BBC presenter Matt Chorley: ‘Yeah completely, but you know that’s life.’

‘I’ve been underestimated most of my life, I’ll just continue getting on and doing what I’m doing, not worrying too much about some of the nonsense that gets written in the papers,’ the Education Secretary added.

‘But I do slightly have to laugh because there’s this idea swirling around somehow that I’m No10’s preferred candidate for all of this.

‘I’m not quite sure that’s what you and many colleagues in the media have been saying in recent months with all of this negativity and nonsense that I’ve faced.

‘So there’s a certain irony I would say in some of the way that this is being approached.’

Asked if there was something wrong with the culture of the team around Sir Keir – following previous claims of a ‘boys club’ in Downing Street – Ms Phillipson said Labour needed to ‘get better at working together’.

‘We had lots of new colleagues who were elected last year, lots of brilliant people who haven’t felt that they’ve been part of the team in the way that they should,’ she said.

‘And that’s true from the conversations I’ve had, not just with colleagues in Parliament, but actually across our movement.

‘We’ve got to get better at working together as a team in Parliament but also uniting our party and our movement, and that’s what I would bring in terms of my ability to unite the party.

‘And to allow us to get into it the strongest possible position for the really vital elections we’ve got coming up next May.’

Asked if Sir Keir and his No10 team had neglected Labour MPs – who staged a massive rebellion in July over planned welfare reforms – Ms Phillpson added: ‘Being the PM is an incredibly tough job and there is a lot going on internationally that the PM has to lead on behalf of our country.

‘But I do think collectively there needs to be much more done to work with colleagues to get into a better position.