Lucy Powell has won Labour’s deputy leadership election, securing 54 percent of the vote against rival Bridget Phillipson. The Manchester Central MP received 87,407 votes, while Phillipson, the education secretary, gained 73,536. Turnout among eligible voters was just 16.6 percent, significantly lower than the 58.8 percent in the 2020 contest.
In her victory speech, Powell criticised the party for failing to be bold enough in government and for allowing Nigel Farage’s Reform UK to dominate the political agenda. “We’ve let Farage and his ilk run away with it,” she said, adding that Labour must “wrestle back the political megaphone”. She also urged the leadership to listen to members and MPs, warning that “command-and-control” tactics would not secure unity.
The result was seen as a referendum on Sir Keir Starmer’s direction for the party. Phillipson was considered Downing Street’s preferred candidate, while Powell was backed by the left. Both candidates called for the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap, a policy that has caused internal rebellion.
Starmer welcomed Powell’s victory, acknowledging the party’s challenges after losing a seat in the Welsh parliament. He said the Conservatives and Reform UK wanted to take Britain to a “very dark place” and urged the party to unite and defeat that politics. The contest grew increasingly fractious in its final weeks, with each candidate trading criticisms.
The deputy leadership contest was triggered after Angela Rayner resigned following a finding that she underpaid stamp duty on a house purchase. Powell will now serve under Starmer as Labour seeks to regain momentum amid widespread discontent.
