Labour “can’t sugarcoat the fact that things aren’t going well” in government, Lucy Powell has said as voting for the party’s new deputy leader begins.
The ballot for the contest between former Commons leader Ms Powell and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson opens on Wednesday, with the result to be announced on October 25.
Speaking at a rally with members in east London on Tuesday, Ms Powell said the party needs to start telling “a stronger story about the purpose of the Labour Government”.
She said: “I’m proud of Labour’s achievements, but we need to acknowledge that mistakes have been made.
“We can’t sugarcoat the fact that things aren’t going well. We have ceded the political megaphone to our opponents instead of setting the agenda ourselves. I want to help Labour wrest it back.”
Ms Powell said Labour is in the “fight of our lives” and needs to start listening to broader voices or risk “group-think” setting in.
She added: “Politics has become more fractured and divided, we’re losing support to both sides. Trying to ‘out-Reform’ Reform doesn’t work.”
In an interview with the BBC’s Newsnight, Ms Phillipson said voting for her opponent risks “destabilising the party”, while she would be at the Cabinet table “where big decisions are being made”.
In a column in The Mirror, Ms Phillipson also pledged to make reducing child poverty the “moral mission” of the Government, guaranteeing it would fall in this parliament.
She said it was important for the party to stay united and not “turn in on ourselves at this crucial moment” which would be welcomed by Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK.
The Education Secretary also spoke about how her journey took her from poverty in a council street in the North East.
She said: “That’s why in Government I’ve focused on delivering free breakfast clubs, securing free school meals for half a million more children and reviving Sure Start for a new generation of children.
“Now I want a mandate to do more and as deputy leader tackling child poverty will be my number one priority, alongside delivering our new deal for working people in full, no ifs, no buts.
“Like Angela Rayner and John Prescott, I’m going to give members a voice from the Cabinet table, not throw rocks from the outside.
“As deputy leader I want to unite our party, deliver change for working people and beat Reform – and deliver the second Labour term our children deserve.”
Ms Powell, who was sacked from the Cabinet in a reshuffle in September, has been supported by Lord Kinnock – who led the party from 1983 to 1992 – while Ms Phillipson has had the backing of unions including GMB and Unison, as well as former home secretary Alan Johnson.
The contest was triggered by Ms Rayner’s resignation as deputy leader over her tax affairs.
