Lucy Powell has defeated Cabinet minister Bridget Phillipson in the race to succeed Angela Rayner as Labour’s deputy leader.
The former leader of the Commons has long been seen as more of a challenger to the current status quo in Labour than her rival.
While both candidates promised to spend more time listening to the party’s membership, Ms Powell – who was sacked as a minister in the reshuffle that followed Ms Rayner’s resignation just months ago – was seen as more of a “change” candidate than her rival Ms Phillipson.
Her victory is likely to be seen as a call from the Labour membership for a change of direction amid growing unhappiness with Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
Ms Powell, who says her politics were shaped by growing up in the North under Margaret Thatcher, is seen to sit on the party’s “soft left” and, launching her leadership bid, promised to urge the prime minister to pursue “bold policies, rooted in progressive Labour values”.
The daughter of a social worker and a headteacher, Lucy Powell was born and bred in Manchester, where she was elected as an MP in 2012 and has remained ever since, living there now with her husband, an A&E doctor.
The mother of two is a lifelong Man City fan – a detail that sparked criticism after it was revealed during last year’s Labour freebies scandal that she accepted free football tickets to watch her team play.
During the campaign, she has been openly critical of “unforced errors” on welfare and the winter fuel payment, as well as warning that Labour members feel “disconnected” from the government.
With a number of welfare rebels like York Central MP Rachael Maskell also being suspended from the parliamentary party following the welfare rebellion, Ms Powell has also made it clear she believes they should be allowed back.
Notably, Ms Powell also used her campaign platform to criticise the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s guidance on transgender issues, which was issued in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling on biological sex and has been criticised by trans campaigners.
She believes the issue is one where Labour has been swayed by the culture wars waged by the Tories, Reform and right-wing media.
She told The Independent last week that she has always fought for women’s rights, but sees “absolutely no contradiction in fighting for those things, whilst also at the same time being really clear that I support the trans community and people who are trans, who are some of the most marginalised, ostracised people in society, who suffer greatly with mental health and homelessness.”
These points of contention with the government mean she is likely, at least at first, to be a thorn in Sir Keir’s side. Ms Powell has insisted she doesn’t seek division or dissent.
Instead, she called for “an important conversation about how we can be better, because we need to be”, warning that “the stakes are too high”.
