Lucy Powell: Labour left piles pressure on Starmer as sacked critic elected to be his deputy leader
Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labor Party has been dealt a blow after the election of former cabinet minister Lucy Powell as deputy leader, who has been critical of his leadership and policies.
Ms Powell defeated Sir Keir’s preferred candidate, Bridget Phillipson, by 87,407 votes to 73,576, sending a clear message from Labor members that they wanted a change of direction even though the turnout was just 16.6 per cent.
The result was a major turnaround for Ms Powell, who was sacked as leader of the House of Commons by Starmer last month due to the departure of Angela Rayner, whom she was elected to replace.
Ms Powell, MP for Manchester Central, is also close to Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who many want to replace Sir Keir as leader.
It follows another terrible week for the prime minister, who has found himself in the political ropes with MPs openly discussing replacing him if the election goes badly next May.
He gives his last interview before the closed voting IndependentMs. Powell admitted that the party “hasn’t been in control of the agenda… we’ve made some mistakes, we’ve made some missteps,” and warned that “we need to make some changes in the way we operate.”
He called for MPs suspended for rebelling against planned benefit cuts to be allowed back into the parliamentary party and pressed for a swift change of direction on policies such as the two-child benefit cap and fairness in the Budget.
Following her victory, Ms. Powell stated that the party needed to change.
He said: “To deliver the great change the country is crying out for, we must offer hope.
“We need to give a stronger understanding of our purpose, whose side we are on, our Labor values and beliefs.
“I’ve heard this loud and clear across the country over the last few weeks. My job as an MP will be to bring these voices to the heart of our Party.”
“Because while we’re doing a lot of good things, people don’t think this government is brave enough to deliver the kind of change we promised.”
He warned that the party needed to “form a progressive alliance” as Labor’s votes chipped away at the left, and repeated his warning that the party “cannot pass Reform” on issues such as immigration.
He told the audience, including the Prime Minister, that his party was “not brave enough” in government. He told them they needed to start “setting the agenda.”
Media were excluded from the event as Labor sought to minimize media exposure on another difficult day for Sir Keir. The result was played in a small room with only a few guests in attendance.
Sir Keir was present and spoke after welcoming Ms Powell’s selection as his deputy.
He said: “I’m delighted to start working with Lucy as our new deputy leader. We’ll get started straight away.”
But he insisted “we need to unite” as a party due to concerns of division over the results.
He said: “Our duty is to unite everyone who is against terrorism in this country. [right-wing] He wants politics to be defeated once and for all. “That means we need to continue the regeneration that working people need to see.”
Drawing attention to Conservative MP Katie Lam’s comments regarding the deportation of immigrants, Lam said that the danger in politics was highlighted this week.
“People need to look out their windows and see change and renewal in their communities, opportunities for their children, public services being rebuilt, the cost of living crisis being tackled. Regeneration is the only answer to decline, grievance and division, and we need to keep that going. That’s an offer we need to make to the people of Scotland, Wales and England next year, and that means we need to come together. We need to unite.”
This week saw his party lose the Welsh seat of Caerphilly; he considered this result “bad” for the party after holding the seat for more than a century. In addition, the grooming ring investigation entered crisis as the victims left the board and the last candidate for president withdrew.
Sir Keir’s much-vaunted extradition deal to France also suffered a blow when it emerged that one of those sent back in a “one in, one out” deal had returned on a small boat.
Meanwhile, a Techne UK poll confirms that left-wing voters are abandoning Labour; This benefited the Green Party, whose support increased by three points to 12 percent. Labor fell below 20 per cent to just 19 per cent for the first time since Jeremy Corbyn became leader.
Political opponents have sought to capitalize on Sir Keir’s embarrassment over the expulsion of an MP from cabinet a few weeks ago.
Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: “Weak Keir Starmer has had the candidate he didn’t want and whom he kicked out last month imposed on him by Labor.”
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “The fact that the media were not allowed to attend this announcement speaks for itself. Labor is not listening.”
“People feel frustrated and disappointed that the Government has failed to deliver the change it promised after years of chaos and neglect by the Conservative Party.”
