Labour "needs to do better" as the future existence of mainstream politics wobbles, "as a result of the rise of politics of hate and division"

Lucy Powell takes aim at PM over ‘missteps and mistakes’, saying she was sacked for opposing cuts and that the party must reconnect with lost voters – but not by copying Reform

The Labour deputy leadership candidate told the Sunday Mail she still believes Sarwar's party can come out on top in May's Holyrood election.

Lucy Powell pitches herself as the independent "shop steward" ready to speak truth to power, while Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson argues real influence comes from inside government.

Powell was right: we cannot afford to lose Labour councillors and councils due to avoidable national missteps. The upcoming budget must be a turning point: to ‘draw a line under our past mistakes, and show the country whose side we are on.

Labour deputy leadership hopeful Lucy Powell said it should give ‘a clear articulation of the core purpose of the Labour Government’.

Exclusive: deputy leadership favourite says budget can revive party’s appeal, while Bridget Phillipson pitches to channel grassroots views to cabinet

As party members prepare to choose between Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell, the pair answer questions on wealth taxes, Brexit, the climate crisis and the far right

On the afternoon of 5 September Lucy Powell was sat in her Manchester Central constituency office when she received a call from an unknown number. “Oh, this is me about to get the sack,” she told her aides, mindful that a cabinet reshuffle had just begun. Powell was right (it was the No 10 switchboard). 

"My first memory of Lucy Powell is from some time in 1993. A force of nature in baggy jeans and a vest top, she was 18 years old, and most likely berating someone in authority for some injustice with the crowd already on her side."

At a rally in east London, Powell said she would be a full-time deputy and would push for a change of approach. “We must be more authentic, telling a stronger story about the purpose of the Labour government and whose side we’re on,” she said.

Speaking to the Mirror in the Strawberry Duck pub in her constituency, Ms Powell said she wouldn't be "throwing bricks" at Keir Starmer. But she said Labour needs to "seize the political megaphone" from Reform and spell out to voters what it really stands for.

She told the programme: “I want this Government to succeed.

“I’ve worked incredibly hard and loyally as a Labour frontbencher and member of the government for the last few months as well.

“I think we can be more successful if we are a better version of ourselves, if we draw in all the voices from our broad movement that are connected to our community."

Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has endorsed Lucy Powell in the deputy leadership race.

Lord Kinnock threw his weight behind the "outstanding" Manchester Central MP, saying she would ensure the whole Labour movement was heard.

Party grandee Lord Kinnock suggested Ms Powell would ensure the wider Labour movement would be listened to.

He said: “I’ve known Lucy as a friend and comrade for over 20 years. She is totally Labour and embodies the basic truth that it is vital that the broad Labour movement is heard and heeded.

Without being held to collective cabinet responsibility, she would be able to challenge the government on behalf of the members publicly. “I am prepared to deliver the difficult messages. I would have a strong mandate from the members. It’s a powerful role to be able to say when we need to change course, to say how we can improve and get better."

Lucy Powell, MP for Manchester Central, said that her 21-year-old son was among those who had “really struggled” to maintain support for Labour as she accused Sir Keir Starmer of handing a “political megaphone” to Reform.

She said that “groupthink” had taken hold in Downing Street, and warned against a bid to stifle “dissent” in the race to replace Angela Rayner.

The former cabinet minister went on to say that Labour is "losing just as many votes, if not more, to the other side", so "being tactical about it and trying to out-Reform Reform is not going to help us in those elections next May".

She said the party has to "seize back the political megaphone in this country" from Reform UK, because they have "ceded it too long in recent months".

“We’ve all seen what’s happening,” Powell said. “People are feeling frustrated, they are feeling demotivated. They are being disconnected from the conversation at the top of the party and in government. I think there’s a real virtue to having this job as a full-time party role outside government, so that I can be in every constituency, in every community, in every council, and bring that really strong feedback to what is happening at the top.”

"The former Commons leader urged Sir Keir Starmer’s Government to use its position in power to “set the terms of the debate” as she insisted the party needs a “course correction” to prevent losing votes left and right."

"Labour must reject argument immigration causes all UK's problems and bring nation together, deputy leadership contender Lucy Powell told a fringe event at the Labour Party Conference."

"The fracturing and division taking over our democracy worries us all. We have a huge responsibility to get this right.

Travelling round the country in this campaign, I’ve seen the risk we face from all parties. Tacking one way or the other doesn’t work. Trying to out-Reform, Reform isn’t the answer."

"The executive council of the FBU has formally nominated Powell for the role of deputy leader. The union has expressed support for her call to scrap the two child benefit cap and for full delivery of the Employment Rights Bill.

The ballot of Labour members will open on 8 October."

"The honest truth is many members are frustrated with where we’ve got to, and motivated to have their say, wanting a contest and not a coronation. A chance for us to have a course correction so we can go on to win the next general election."

"Powell, a former Cabinet minister, is concerned the Government has lost control of the conversation. It’s a theme she takes up when she sits down to talk to The i Paper during a pause in her countrywide tour of CLPs.

“I’ve been really frustrated, and many members have been really frustrated … that we’ve just handed over the political megaphone to Nigel Farage these last few months; we’ve let him set the terms of the debate. We need to set the terms of the debate. We’re in Government.'"

"John Harris is joined by the Labour MP Lucy Powell, a former cabinet minister who is a running for deputy leadership of the party, to discuss why the government is failing to stem the surge in support for Reform and whether a change in tactics could help Keir Starmer take on Nigel Farage."

"Taking on Reform UK is the battle of our political age, but we shouldn’t end up arguing on their terms, using their language. We need to wrest back control of the political megaphone that Farage brandishes and use it to amplify a Labour message based on the values we cherish – and that the British people share."

"Lucy Powell said that while she recognised that there is a significant strain on the public finances the government is “running out of time” to reduce child poverty.

She told The Times: “The real question is, if not now, then when, when there is such a cost of delay?'"

"Labour deputy leadership hopeful Lucy Powell used visits to Fife and Stirling to set out how she’ll turn around the struggling party’s fortunes north of the border.”

"'I believe Lucy Powell is the best choice for deputy leader because of her ability to communicate and to represent the views of the wider party, members and backbench MPs to the leadership and vice versa,' Vince, 64, told The i Paper on Tuesday."

"We’ve got to give a greater sense of who we’re fighting for. Who we serve. Why we are taking the decisions we are. That’s the way we will rebuild our support, unite people and the country as Labour governments have always done.

I won’t snipe from the sidelines, but I’m not afraid to have difficult conversations when we need to change course.”

Lucy Powell on why and how she was sacked by Keir Starmer, and why she now wants to be his Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

"Writing for The Mirror, the deputy leadership hopeful praised the government for showing " Labour values in action" with the introduction of free school breakfast clubs. But the Manchester Central MP, who is vying against Cabinet minister Bridget Phillipson to replace Angela Rayner, also piled pressure on ministers to axe the two-child benefit limit."

In her first broadcast interview since being sacked, she told the BBC's Nick Robinson attempts to cut disability benefits and winter fuel payments had left voters questioning "whose side we are on".

She urged the party's leaders to be clearer about their desire to scrap the two-child benefit cap and move out of a "defensive crouch" on the issue.

"Labour deputy leadership hopeful Lucy Powell has piled pressure on the Government to scrap the two-child limit.

She said the Government must be “clearer” about wanting to axe the two-child limit in its upcoming child poverty strategy."

"Exclusive polling conducted over the weekend for LabourList by Survation shows that 47 per cent of members back Lucy Powell and 30 per cent Bridget Phillipson with 23 per cent undecided."

"I've never really been given the impression that I'm one of the chosen ones - far from it. I don't really play the political parlour games that maybe I should and maybe that would make me more in with the in-crowd. But I haven't really ever played those."

"I really, really want this Labour government to succeed, and we’re at our best when we use all the talents that we’ve got, all the voices that we’ve got, the experience that we’ve got, to make better decisions and have fewer unforced errors, mistakes that are really frustrating people."

Backed by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, Powell said she had received "much encouragement" from her colleagues in a statement on social media platform X.