Labour’s new deputy leader Lucy Powell: A clear sign for governmental change

On Saturday 25 October, Lucy Powell won the internal Labour Party election to serve as its Deputy Leader, defeating current Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, Bridget Phillipson, by securing 54.3% of the votes cast.

The question must be asked: who exactly is Lucy Powell, and what does her victory mean for the Labour Party and for the wider potential future of British politics?

Lucy Maria Powell is a highly experienced politician and MP, having previously held multiple ministerial positions, both in government and within shadow cabinets. She currently serves as the MP for Manchester Central, a position she has held since 2012.

She was also the only Cabinet minister sacked in the reshuffle sparked by Angela Rayner’s resignation, which freed her from ministerial collective responsibility and allowed her to officially proclaim the need for Labour to go through a “course correction”.

Powell made sure to explicitly call out party leadership and a ‘narrow’ group of voices at the top of Government

Her deputy leadership election win came after campaigning on a promise to ensure the voices of grassroots members were listened to and that the course of the government would change.

She also ran on a platform that called for changing the culture within the government and cabinet, with more openness and communication between MPs, and far better accountability.

Many of Powell’s positions, however, were similar or indeed the same as those held by her electoral contest rival, except Powell made sure to explicitly call out party leadership and a ‘narrow’ group of voices at the top of government for being responsible for many poor decisions and failings.

It must be said that Lucy Powell was not the government’s preferred candidate, who indeed favoured Bridget Phillipson, and thus many see the appointment of Powell to this position as a thumbs down to Keir Starmer.

This comes after Labour’s recent defeat in the Caerphilly by-election, where they lost a formerly safe seat to Plaid Cymru and finished a distant third behind Reform. Serving as a clear indication that the polls have been accurate, sentiment against Labour is rising, and they are at risk of a political landslide if they don’t change their ways.

As a political figure within the party, she has made clear her disdain for current Labour policies to seemingly ‘out-Reform’ Reform

Looking at the election itself, the turnout was incredibly low, with only 160,993 votes cast across both candidates, officially described as 16.6% (which implies a rough Labour membership of nearly a million).

This low turnout speaks to a significant issue within the Labour Party: member disenchantment. Many of their members are becoming either apathetic or, in some cases, disillusioned with the Labour Party as a whole, especially with the current government.

Delving deeper into the Labour Party, Lucy Powell’s role as an MP for Manchester must be considered. Given her alliance with Andy Burnham, her win might be seen as a sign of party support for Burnham to replace Keir Starmer as leader. However, she has denied any such ties or connections, and has rightfully and understandably said that people postulating an image of her as just a proxy for Andy Burnham are promoting sexist, misogynistic ideas and rhetoric.

Nonetheless, I would argue that it remains fair to see her as a proxy for general anti-Starmer sentiment. After all, she has clearly said that Labour must change and that it needs to “give a stronger sense… of our Labour values and beliefs”. Powell has very clearly served as a figure opposed to many of the government’s current controversial policy decisions, as well as to how leadership within the party is being carried out more broadly.

Perhaps there is now some hope for change and a positive return of the Labour Party

As a political figure within the party, she has made clear her disdain for current Labour policies to seemingly ‘out-Reform’ Reform. Instead, she has promoted an approach whereby Labour does not allow Reform to set the political agenda, especially in the area of immigration, as she’s called for a return to proper left-wing politics and policy. This approach would seem far more suitable for a Labour party that is facing clear voter and member disenchantment, and that very clearly needs to change its own course to be back in line with its voters and the priorities of the electorate.

A tumultuous set of local elections in May, along with Senedd and Holyrood votes which are also forthcoming next year, will serve as the next key test for this government, and perhaps there is now some hope for change and a positive return of the Labour Party. Indeed, on this, we look to Powell’s final key statement in her victory speech:

“At the election 16 months ago, the British people voted for change. I’m here to do everything I can to make that change a reality.”