Labour has a new deputy leader, but what does the result mean for Powell, the Party and the PM? – LabourList

The results are in. Congratulations to Lucy Powell on winning the role of Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. And commiserations to Bridget Powell. The result was definitive at 54.5% to 45.7% – but was tighter than some polling had indicated. Meaning that both candidates demonstrated they had a message that resonated with members.

READ MORE: ‘A mandate from the members’: Challenge, responsibilty and speaking truth to power– the LabourList deputy leadership interview with Lucy Powell

This was perhaps not wholly unsurprising. The candidates were not that dissimilar in their politics and background and – however much some overexcited commentators tried to paint it as such – this was not an epic left/right battle of the Corbynites vs Blairites.

A difference of emphasis

What did differ was in the emphasis each candidate put on the balance they would strike between loyal cheerleading and being a voice for member’s criticisms of the way the party has conducted itself in government. In her acceptance speech, Powell’s strongest line was her assertion that members (and she indicated that she was referring to all members, up to – and including – the PLP) do not currently feel part of the conversation within the party. and that “unity and loyalty comes from collective purpose – not from command and control.”

When Phillipson warned of people “throwing rocks at the leadership” I suspect it was this sort of thing she meant. But, frankly, members are in the mood for throwing if not boulders then at least a pebble or two. However, they also want someone to tell a better story than has recently been told of what the Party is doing and achieving in government. Powell will have to find a way to do both.

As I discussed with both candidates, this is not a well defined job – especially given that it does not come with the role of Deputy Prime Minister –  which is both a challenge and an opportunity. Lucy Powell can now shape this role as she sees fit. The only guarantee she has is a place on Labour’s NEC – the powerful body that oversees the party. Having been sacked by Keir Starmer from the cabinet (and Starmer and his team may wish to reflect on the quote that “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”) Powell has vowed not to take a cabinet role – thus leaving her outside of collective responsibility.

Hostile environment?

That may mean that while, unlike her defeated rival Phillipson or her predecessor Angela Rayner, she will not have a direct policy portfolio to leave a mark on, it will leave her freer to campaign actively for the party – and to criticise the leadership. How she balances that will be tricky. Not least with a media who will jump on any story of splits but rarely want to tell the story of Labour achievements. She faces a hostile environment outside of the Party – but what of that she faces inside it?

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While Phillipson denied it, it is widely believed that she was the leadership’s preferred candidate. Given the restiveness of the membership at present, this being the narrative may, in fact, have helped Powell to win. Voting for a candidate who has said she would be critical of the leadership where warranted was probably the safest way possible for Labour members to express their unhappiness with the way things are going. If Starmer and his team are wise, they will recognise that.

Lucy Powell’s line about ‘command and control’ does speak to a very real sense within much of the Labour Party that the leadership has been too controlling at all levels – from council selections to PLP management. They could probably get away with this – even sell it as a positive to many – if they were seen to be succeeding in delivering Labour values effectively in government.

But, sadly, that is not the case. Mistakes in both policy and political terms led a sense of drift to become a sense of doom. The a government that was supposed to reset in September become a government that has instead been beset by one crisis after another. Since the first of September we have seen the resignation of Angela Rayner and sacking of Peter Mandelson – two towering Labour figures from different political wings. Just this week we have seen the grooming gangs inquiry descend into chaos; three different terrible stories involving migrants who came in small boats and the failures of the regime to deal with them appropriately; and a disastrous result in Caerphilly which saw Labour achieve just 12 per cent of the vote in this traditional heartland.

Given this, is it any wonder that Labour members are rejecting ‘command and control’? Who would want to be commanded by a team you do not feel is in control? And who you do not feel were listening when they were warned that things were going badly.

A coherent, collective force

Lucy Powell has the opportunity as deputy leader to rebuild relationships between the Party leadership she is now a part of and the members she has vocally championed. If Starmer and his team can let her get on with the job of doing that – openly and wholeheartedly – Labour’s latest reset might have a chance of being more successful than it’s previous attempts.

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I hope they can. There is a lot to be said about what Labour is doing right in government even as I have written the above. There is a great deal to be admired in Lucy Powell’s campaigning zeal and if she is able to – and allowed to – use this properly in the service of both the government and party members it could mark the start of a shift to Labour being once again a coherent, collective force to be reckoned with.

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