Labour Party Deputy Leadership Race: Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell Vie for Position
Labour Party's Deputy Leadership Contest: Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell Square Off
Two prominent Labour figures, Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell, are set to compete in a ballot to succeed Angela Rayner as the Labour Party's Deputy Leader. The contest, which will take place before October 25, has seen both candidates garner significant support and make strong commitments on key issues.
Bridget Phillipson, currently the Education Secretary, has made tackling child poverty her primary focus. She describes the issue as "profoundly personal" and seeks a "mandate to go further" as Deputy Leader to make it the unbreakable moral mission of the Labour Government. Phillipson has stated that scrapping the two-child benefit cap is "on the table" in the battle against child poverty.
Alison Garnham, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, has warned that unless the two-child limit is scrapped, there will be more children in poverty at the end of this parliament than when Labour took office. Garnham has also stated that the policy must go in the autumn child poverty strategy to prevent further damage to the life chances of many children. Phillipson's candidacy has already seen movement on this issue from the Labour leadership.
Phillipson secured the endorsement of the National Union of Mineworkers, making her the first candidate to cross the line for the required support from at least 80 MPs and either three Labour affiliate groups or 33 Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs). Two "very strong evenings" of CLP nominations indicate that Labour members are supporting Powell's message of hope to unify the party and the country.
Powell's campaign believes she has also made it onto the ballot thanks to support from CLPs. Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell will take part in a hustings on the last day of Labour's annual conference in Liverpool before members vote in October.
The policy of scrapping the two-child benefit cap has not been committed to by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, but he has consistently declined to rule it out. Phillipson is expected to report ahead of the Budget in November with a strategy including recommendations on the two-child cap.
The three trade unions that have supported Phillipson's candidacy for the position of Deputy Labour Leader are not specified in the available search results. However, Usdaw and Community are the other two trade unions that have endorsed a candidate for the deputy leadership.
The winner of the deputy leadership contest will be announced on October 25. The successful candidate will take on the role of a campaigning deputy leader at the Cabinet table, working to tackle issues like child poverty and unifying the Labour Party and the country.
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