🔗 Share this article

Lucy Powell has secured the win in the Labour deputy leadership election, beating out her opponent Bridget Phillipson.

Election Results and Figures

Ex-Commons leader until a reshuffle in a early autumn reorganization, was largely viewed as the frontrunner across the contest. She garnered 87,407 votes, accounting for 54% of the total ballots, whereas Phillipson received 73,536. Eligible voter turnout reached 16.6%.

The decision was revealed on Saturday following a vote that many regarded as a referendum for party adherents on Labour's direction under its current leadership. Phillipson, the minister for education, was perceived as the favored candidate of government circles.

Shared Policy Stances

Each candidate pushed for the elimination of the cap on benefits for third children, a policy that sparked a revolt among MPs weeks after Labour assumed office and is strongly opposed among supporters.

Winning Speech by Powell

During her acceptance address spoken in front of the party leader and the home secretary, Powell hinted at errors from the government and stated that Labour had been too passive against Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

She asserted, “We won't win by attempting to outdo Reform.”

She urged the leadership to listen to the grassroots and parliamentarians, several of whom have had the whip withdrawn since the party gained power for defying the party on issues such as welfare spending and the two-child benefit cap.

“Our grassroots and MPs are not a flaw, they’re our greatest strength, implementing reforms on the ground,” Powell said. “Solidarity and allegiance stem from shared goals, not from command-and-control. Debating, listening and hearing is not rebellion. It’s our forte.”

She added: “We have to offer optimism, to deliver the major change the country is demanding. We must convey a more definite feeling of our purpose, where our loyalties lie, and of our Labour values and beliefs. That’s what I’ve heard distinctly and unmistakably around the country in recent weeks.”

She further noted: “Although we're doing much good … people feel that this government is failing to be daring in implementing the sort of reform we vowed. I intend to fight for our Labour values and daring in everything we do.

“It starts with us reclaiming the political megaphone and setting the agenda more strongly. Because let’s be honest, we’ve allowed Farage and his followers to control it.”

She stated: “Rifts and hostility are on the rise, discontent and disillusionment commonplace, the yearning for transformation urgent and evident. People are searching in other places for solutions, and we as the Labour party, as the party of government, need to come forth and address this.

“We have this one big chance to demonstrate that forward-thinking, centrist policies can indeed improve living conditions for the better.”

Leader's Remarks and Labour's Struggles

The party leader greeted Powell’s triumph, and recognized the challenges faced by Labour, a day after the party lost a seat in the Welsh parliament to a rival party.

He mentioned a statement made by a Conservative MP who last weekend claimed she believed “a large number of people” living legally in the UK should have their right to stay cancelled and “go home” to establish a more “culturally coherent group of people”.

The leader stated it showed that the Conservatives and Reform aimed to lead Britain to a “very dark place”.

“Our duty, whoever we are in this party, is to bring together every single person in this country who is resisting that politics, and to beat it, permanently.

“This week we got another indication of just how pressing that objective is. A disappointing performance in Wales. I admit that, but it is a reminder that people need to see around them and witness transformation and revitalization in their locality, opportunities for their children, restored public services, the cost-of-living crisis tackled.”

Contest Background and Participation

The conclusion was closer than expected; a recent poll had forecast Powell would receive 58% of ballots cast. The participation rate of 16.6% was significantly less than the previous deputy leadership election in 2020, which saw 58.8%.

Members and union affiliates comprised the 970,642 people eligible to vote.

The race grew progressively hostile over the recent weeks. Recently, Powell was labeled “the Momentum candidate” and Phillipson gave an interview saying her rival would lose the election for Labour.

The election was called after the previous deputy leader resigned last month when she was determined to have paid too little stamp duty on a property purchase.

Speaking in parliament this week – the initial occasion she had done so since stepping down following a report by the prime minister’s ethics adviser – the former deputy leader told MPs she would pay “any taxes owed”.

In contrast to her predecessor, Powell will not assume the role of deputy prime minister, with the role having previously assigned to another senior figure.

Powell is viewed as being closely linked with the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, who was alleged to have starting a run for the top job in all but name before the party’s last gathering.

During the campaign, Powell repeatedly cited “errors” made by the party on issues such as the winter fuel allowance.