Political campaigners in south Dorset have thrown their weight behind frontrunner Sir Keir Starmer to become the next leader of the Labour Party.

Members of the South Dorset Constituency Labour Party (CLP) voted to nominate the Shadow Brexit Secretary to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the forthcoming leadership election.

The local party branch also nominated Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner to be deputy leader of the Labour Party.

South Dorset’s nomination contrasts that of West Dorset CLP, which nominated Rebecca Long-Bailey, and North Dorset CLP, which nominated Lisa Nandy.

Sir Keir, who has been the Member of Parliament for the London constituency of Holborn and St Pancras since 2015, currently has the support of more than 300 constituency Labour parties.

This places him firmly in the lead for local party nominations with more than double the number of second placed Rebecca Long-Bailey.

He also leads the field for nominations from Labour Party-affiliated organisations (trade unions and socialist societies) with 12.

Before entering Parliament, Sir Keir served as Director of Public Prosecutions between 2008 and 2013. After being elected as an MP in 2015, he was appointed Shadow Brexit Secretary in 2016.

The ongoing Labour leadership election was initiated after Jeremy Corbyn declared he would not lead the party into a future general election following its poor result in December’s ballot, which saw Labour drop to its lowest number of seats since 1935.

The name of Mr Corbyn’s successor is due to be announced on April 4 after a final vote by party members.

Three MPs are currently in the running to replace Mr Corbyn: Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer, Shadow Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, and former Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary Lisa Nandy.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry was eliminated from the leadership race at the weekend after failing to secure enough nominations.

The election for deputy leader is happening at the same time, with Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner, Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary Dawn Butler, Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon, Shadow Scotland Secretary Ian Murray and Tooting MP Rosena Allin-Khan all vying for the position.