Tooting MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan is standing to become the next Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

The Labour MP made the announcement on Tuesday morning (January 7).

Her campaign launch featured a number of pledges, from reconnecting with local communities to maintaining workers’ rights, environmental standards and the NHS post-Brexit.

"The Labour Party shaped my values, while giving me the chances a person from my background otherwise would not have had," Allin-Khan said on launching her campaign.

"I want the Labour Party to be in government again to afford the current generation the hope that was offered to me.

"It is vital that we restore trust in the Labour Party across the country....Our path back to power involves listening with humility to those former Labour voters who have abandoned the party.

"I believe my life experience means I can help our movement do this.

"As a doctor, I cannot guess or assume what is wrong with a patient - I have to listen to their symptoms and investigate the root causes - this is what we must do as a party, and is what I will do as Deputy Leader," the Tooting MP added.

Allin-Khan faces stiff competition from an increasingly crowded field in the race to replace former Deputy Leader Tom Watson.

Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner, Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon, Birmingham Perry MP Khalid Mahmood and Ian Murray MP of Edinburgh South have all declared their candidacies.

Allin-Khan called for an end to "ideological purity" within the Labour Party and suggested she hopes to breach the divide between Corbynites and more centrist Labour MPs.

The Tooting MP will also hope to stand out from the field as a practising A&E doctor, a role she continues to fulfil alongside her duties as an Member of Parliament.