Newly elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Lucy Powell speaking to party activists and supporters in London, October 25, 2025
THE Labour Party’s newly elected deputy leader Lucy Powell has warned the Prime Minister against shifting to the right to counter the threat posed by Nigel Farage, saying “we can’t ‘out-Reform’ Reform.”
Her win on Saturday against the Prime Minister’s ally, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, “proves Labour members are unhappy with the current direction of this government,” said Labour Momentum co-chair Alex Charilaou.
“In the wake of Labour’s crushing defeat in the Caerphilly by-election this week, it’s clear that the government needs to urgently change course.”
After winning 54 per cent of the vote among eligible Labour party members and affiliates to replace Angela Rayner on a 16.6 per cent turnout, Ms Powell called on Sir Keir to be bolder and show “whose side we are on.”
Ms Powell, who was sacked from the Prime Minister’s Cabinet in last month’s reshuffle, added that Sir Keir’s government had to show a “stronger sense of our purpose.”
“We have to offer hope, to offer the big change the country is crying out for,” the new deputy leader said.
“We must give a stronger sense of our purpose, whose side we are on and of our Labour values and beliefs.”
She said that “people feel that this government is not being bold enough in delivering the kind of change we promised.”
Ms Powell’s election could spell trouble for the PM as Ms Powell will be free to speak out against his government’s policies from the backbenches rather than, like Ms Phillipson, being bound by collective Cabinet responsibility.
The Fire Brigades Union backed Ms Powell for the role “to send a clear message that the leadership must change direction.”
Unite the union however had refused to nominate any candidate, saying that “neither represents the change required.”
Today, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said that the British public have a sense of despair about the way the country is run and that Labour must demonstrate it can deliver in office.
Following the party’s humiliation in the Senedd by-election in Caerphilly, held by Labour for more than 100 years, he said that Sir Keir’s administration had not told a “compelling enough story” about its achievements, acknowledging people were not yet feeling the change they voted for at the general election.
