In figures that will concern the Prime Minister, the number of eligible voters was 970,642 and a total of 160,993 votes were cast, resulting in a turnout of 16.6%
Lucy Powell has won Labour’s deputy leadership election after a campaign urging the party to change course.
Ms Powell received 87,407 votes from the Labour Party membership and affiliates, while her rival Bridget Phillipson received 73,536 votes. However, in figures that will concern the Prime Minister, the number of eligible voters was 970,642 and a total of 160,993 votes were cast, resulting in a turnout of 16.6%.
This suggests low enthusiasm among the party faithful for the current direction, leaving Ms Powell with a hill to climb to inspire activists. Ms Powell, the Manchester Central MP, was sacked from Sir Keir’s Cabinet in September and has indicated she will refuse a return to a government role so she can speak more openly about the direction of the party in office.
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In an apparent criticism of Labour’s approach to tackling Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, she said Labour “won’t win by trying to out-Reform Reform” after being crowned the party’s deputy leader.
Speaking after her victory, Ms Powell said: “It starts with us wrestling back the political megaphone and setting the agenda more strongly.
“Because let’s be honest, we’ve let Farage and his ilk run away with it. He wants to blame immigration for all the country’s problems.
“We reject that. Our diagnosis is different: that for too long, the country and the economy has worked in the interests of the few, not the many.”
Responding, the PM passed on his congratulations, and claimed Ms Powell will be an “incredible” Deputy leader.
He said: “I look forward to continuing working with Lucy as my Labour Government continues to drive forwards the change the British people voted for last year.
“My Labour Government, and the entire Labour movement, will continue working at pace to deliver the patriotic renewal all corners of our country need – based on security, opportunity, and respect.”
Ms Powell was first elected as the MP for Manchester Central in a by-election in 2012. Her election as deputy leader marks the fourth time the Labour Party has elected a woman to this position, following Margaret Beckett, Harriet Harman, and Angela Rayner.
In her resignation statement in the Commons on Thursday, Ms Rayner has insisted Labour is best when it is “bold” as she vowed to “fight with everything I have” to change lives.
The former Deputy PM said while her title may have changed she will continue to bring determination, commitment and my socialist values” to the Commons.
Last month she was forced to resign as Housing Secretary, Deputy PM, and her elected position as Labour’s deputy leader, after admitting not paying enough stamp duty on her seaside home in Hove. The PM’s ethics chief Sir Laurie Magnus ruled she had broken the rules by underpaying the tax by £40,000 on the property in East Sussex.