As ballots opened across the United Kingdom on October 8, 2025, the Labour Party found itself at a pivotal crossroads, with members and affiliates casting votes in a deputy leadership contest that could shape the party’s direction for years to come. The two contenders—Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and former Commons leader Lucy Powell—are vying to replace Angela Rayner, whose resignation over her tax affairs triggered the race. The result, eagerly anticipated by party faithful and political observers alike, will be announced on October 25.
The stakes are high, and both candidates have staked out markedly different visions for Labour’s future. According to The Guardian, Lucy Powell has emerged as the candidate of change, appealing to those who feel the party has lost its way in government. Speaking at a rally with members in east London on October 7, Powell pulled no punches: “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.” Her message was clear—Labour needs to be more authentic, admit its mistakes, and tell a stronger story about its purpose in government.
Powell’s campaign has been buoyed by polling from LabourList, which found 57% of members backing her compared to 26% for Phillipson, though about one in five remain undecided. She has the backing of Lord Kinnock, the party’s leader from 1983 to 1992, and has positioned herself as a full-time deputy who would challenge what she calls Downing Street’s "groupthink." “When we rely on a narrower and narrower set of voices, groupthink sets in, and that’s when mistakes and wrong turns happen. I want to change this,” she told supporters, as reported by The Guardian. Powell warned that Labour is losing support to both its right and left flanks—to Reform UK, the Greens, and the Liberal Democrats—and that “trying to out-Reform Reform doesn’t work.”
Her candidacy comes on the heels of a September reshuffle that saw her sacked from the Cabinet, a move that many interpreted as a sign of tensions within the party’s upper ranks. Yet, Powell has been undeterred, emphasizing the need for Labour to listen to broader voices and avoid slipping into insular thinking. “Unity of purpose comes not from command and control, but by taking people with us and winning the argument,” she asserted.
On the other side of the contest stands Bridget Phillipson, the current Education Secretary and widely seen as the preferred candidate of No 10. Her campaign has been endorsed by major unions, including Unison and GMB, as well as former home secretary Alan Johnson. Phillipson has emphasized the importance of party unity, warning that internal division would only serve to “energise our opponents”—a pointed reference to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which has sought to peel away disaffected Labour voters.
In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter) and in an interview with the BBC’s Newsnight, Phillipson cautioned: “Make no mistake, change is on the ballot, but it’s the kind of change that you get to choose—whether it’s me at the Cabinet table pushing for more of the brilliant Labour things that you all want to see, or the risk that comes of disunity, of shouting from the sidelines and energising our opponents.” She vowed that, with a seat at the Cabinet table, she would “put Labour’s heart and soul into Government, and I’ll make sure that I deliver for working people, unite our party and secure that second-term Labour Government that we all want to see.”
Phillipson’s campaign has been built around a deeply personal narrative. She often recounts her upbringing in poverty on a council street in the North East, framing her political mission as one rooted in lived experience. “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,” she wrote in The Mirror. “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.”
Reducing child poverty, Phillipson has pledged, will become the “moral mission” of the government should she win. She has guaranteed that child poverty will fall during this parliament, a promise that resonates with many grassroots members and affiliates. “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,” she declared, according to The Guardian and The Mirror.
The contest has exposed the underlying tensions within Labour as it grapples with governing in a more fractured and polarized political environment. Powell, for her part, has repeatedly stressed the need for Labour to broaden its appeal and avoid the perils of “group-think.” “Politics has become more fractured and divided, we’re losing support to both sides,” she warned. Her supporters argue that a more candid, self-critical approach is necessary if Labour is to regain the political initiative and reconnect with voters who feel alienated by the status quo.
Phillipson, meanwhile, has made unity her watchword, insisting that public displays of internal discord would only hand ammunition to the party’s opponents. “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,” she wrote, as reported by The Mirror.
The deputy leadership race was set in motion by the resignation of Angela Rayner, who stepped down following controversy over her tax affairs. Both candidates have sought to position themselves as the best hope for party renewal, but their strategies diverge sharply: Powell calls for an internal reckoning and a broader coalition, while Phillipson argues for stability, discipline, and a focus on delivering tangible results for working people.
With ballots set to close at noon on October 23 and the result to be announced on October 25, Labour’s members face a stark choice. Do they double down on unity and incremental progress, or opt for a bolder course correction led by a deputy unafraid to challenge the party’s own leadership? The answer, whatever it may be, will have profound implications not only for Labour’s immediate future but for the broader trajectory of British politics.
As the campaign enters its final stretch, both Powell and Phillipson are making their final pitches, each convinced that they—and only they—can deliver the change Labour needs. The party’s direction, and perhaps its fate at the next general election, hangs in the balance.
