Voting has finished in Labour’s deputy leadership election, with Lucy Powell expected to secure a comfortable victory over Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.
A Survation poll published on Thursday showed that while Ms Phillipson had closed the gap on her opponent, the former Commons leader continued to enjoy a hefty lead in the contest to succeed Angela Rayner.
Victory for Ms Powell, who was sacked from the Cabinet in the reshuffle that followed Ms Rayner’s resignation last month, is likely to be seen as a call from the Labour membership for a change of direction from Sir Keir Starmer’s Government.
In a message to supporters ahead of the close of polls, Ms Powell said she wanted to “help Keir and our Government to succeed” but added the party “must change how we are doing things to turn things around”.
She said: “Let’s be honest, we have bene losing support to all sides.
“Trying to out-Reform Reform doesn’t work and loses us more the other way. We need to seize back the political megaphone and stop following the agenda set by others.”
She appeared to criticise a “command and control” culture within Government, arguing that “blindly following along” was “a dereliction of our duty to defeat the politics of hate and division”.
Survation’s poll, carried out between October 17 and 22 for the LabourList website, found 57% of Labour members said they back Ms Powell, against 40% supporting Ms Phillipson.
The poll also suggested Ms Powell enjoyed more than 80% support among members who thought Labour was heading in the wrong direction – a group that now accounts for more than half the party.
In a statement following the close of polls, Ms Phillipson thanked those who had supported her, saying it had been “an enormous privilege to meet so many of our brilliant members in every corner of the country”.
She said: “I am proud of my campaign to unite our party, deliver the change our country needs and to focus our efforts on beating our opponents, both next year and at the next general election.
“It’s crucial now that we come together in the coming weeks and months to shout about our successes and support the vital work this Labour Government is doing to deliver better life chances for working people – and get the second term of Labour Government we all want to see.”
The result of the deputy leadership election will be announced on Saturday.
