Manchester MP Lucy Powell has been elected as the new deputy leader of the Labour Party
Powell beat the Education Secretary and Kier Starmer’s preferred candidate Bridget Phillipson by 87,407 to 73,536 on a very low turnout of just sixteen per cent
Powell was sacked as leader of the Commons in the cabinet reshuffle that followed the resignation of Angela Rayner over her tax affairs and has had a clear lead in the polls since her nominations closed although Phillipson had closed the gap in recent days
The result is an indication of how members feel about Kier Starmer with Powell representing those not happy with the way the party has performed since last year’s election
She is the first deputy leader not to be in the cabinet or shadow cabinet since 1970.
In her speech Powell set the challenge for the PM and his Downing St team:
“We won’t win by trying to out-reform reform, but by building a broad progressive consensus” adding that
“We have to offer big change that the country is crying out for.“
