Lucy Powell has issued a major challenge to Sir Keir Starmer’s authority, insisting that she will push the prime minister to reconsider the direction of the party in a bid to rescue Labour from its dismal poll ratings.
The Manchester Central MP is widely regarded as the frontrunner in the deputy leadership race against education secretary Bridget Phillipson, with voting set to close on Thursday and the result declared on Saturday.
Speaking to The Independent, Ms Powell insisted that if she is declared the winner on Saturday morning, her mandate will be “that we need to make some changes to how we operate” as she admitted the party has “not been able to control the agenda... we’ve made some mistakes, some missteps”.
She says the leadership has failed to listen to MPs, most notably over the welfare rebellion which shook the government before the summer and which she believes was a key factor in her losing her cabinet job.
“I wasn't [happy about the welfare cuts], and I fed back that there were issues with it, and it was going to be a real challenge. I offered solutions and ways forward and all of that. And if that's why I was sacked, then so be it,” she said.
But Ms Powell insists she will refuse to be sidelined and will take an active role in trying to rescue the party, after her rival suggested she had an advantage by being part of the cabinet.
“It's not a choice about inside the tent or outside the tent. I will be at the top of the Labour Party. I will be in all the conversations. I will be deputy leader of the party. I think it's more what you bring to the table, rather than whether you're at the table or not.
“I will absolutely be involved in trying to turn things around for the Labour Party.”
The deputy leadership contest was triggered after Angela Rayner stood down following a row over her tax affairs.
Ms Powell, who was sacked as a minister just months ago, is seen as more of a “change” candidate than her rival Ms Phillipson. She 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”.
During the campaign, she has been openly critical of “unforced errors” on welfare and the winter fuel payment.
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 was clear she believes they should be allowed back.
“Losing the whip is something that should be only done in real extremis,” she said. “It's not a device that should be used all that often, in my view. And I would like to see the whip being restored to people who lost it.”
Ms Powell has criticised 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.
“I've been really clear throughout my political career and life that I'm a feminist. I support all rights for women, for gender equality and for women's safety, all of those issues, and I'm not going to stop doing that.
“But for me, I see 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.”
Her seat in the North West is in the heart of a region Reform UK is threatening to take by storm but she wants to see less attempts at trying to match Reform rhetoric on migration and the culture wars.
“You can't out Reform, Reform. We need to really just be very clear about what our broad voter coalition is, because when you try and out Reform, Reform, you lose always.”
She also warned that Labour will also lose voters to the Greens and Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party if it does not appeal to left-wing voters.
“I'm the only one in this race who's really been talking about our left flank, and how we need to rebuild that broader voter coalition,” she said.
“When you see Reform winning seats, sometimes it's direct switches from Labour to Reform but other times, it's Labour voters going elsewhere, and Reform coming through the middle.”
Meanwhile, Ms Powell also made it clear she wants to see a Budget on 26 November which has “a strong story to tell on fairness and how we are rewiring the country in the interest of the many, not the few”.
She warned: “We need to be a lot clearer about the urgency and the principles of lifting the two-child benefit cap, because if we want to see the levels of child poverty going down over this parliament, then we have to do that urgently.
“It’s about telling a much, much stronger story about fairness and tackling these deep-seated inequalities that exist.”
Speaking about the current direction of the party, Ms Powell said: “There's a disconnect with our communities, and our movement is our bridge to our communities, and that's self-evident.
“I mean, it's not disloyal for me to say that our poll ratings are the lowest they've ever been. We've made some mistakes, some missteps. We've not been able to control the agenda and really tell that story.”
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