Lucy Powell has warned that Labour members feel “disconnected” from the government and risk losing motivation, as she and rival Bridget Phillipson faced questions at the party’s annual conference. The deputy leadership candidate, who was sacked from the cabinet in a reshuffle last month, presented herself as an independent “shop steward” for members, balancing what she called an occasionally isolated leadership.
Phillipson, the education secretary and the favoured candidate of Keir Starmer, said picking Powell could lead to “division and disunity” that would derail the government. “I want us to turn this government around, not to turn on each other,” she told the hustings, urging members to choose change that pushes the government to be bolder rather than “division and disunity that fills the pages of the rightwing papers”.
Powell countered that she did not seek dissent but wanted “an important conversation about how we can be better, because we need to be. The stakes are too high.” She blamed government mistakes on “fewer and fewer people taking decisions that are not connected to the communities that we represent, and not hearing that feedback from the doorstep”. This, she argued, was demotivating activists.
Both candidates acknowledged errors, with Phillipson citing controversies over winter fuel payments and welfare policy. Powell stressed the need for a full-time party role outside government to bring grassroots feedback to the top. Polls suggest Powell has more support ahead of the ballot of party members, which runs from 8 to 23 October.
