Bridget Phillipson launched her campaign to become Labour’s next deputy leader on Sunday, saying she would work to reunify the party and help secure a second term for the government by "beating Reform" in the next general election.
Speaking in her hometown of Sunderland, the education secretary said she would continue the campaigning role of outgoing deputy leader Angela Rayner and use the post to give party members a "strong voice" at the Cabinet table. Rayner resigned amid scrutiny of her tax affairs earlier this month, in a period that has also seen controversy over the sacking of Lord Peter Mandelson.
"You can use this contest to look backward, to pass judgment on what has happened in the last year, or you can use it to shape positively what happens in the run-up to the next election," Phillipson told supporters. "Back me so I can unite our party, deliver the change we want to see and beat Reform. Back me so, together, we can deliver that second term of Labour Government."
Phillipson, the member of Parliament for Houghton and Sunderland South, drew on her personal background from "a tough street of council houses in the North East all the way to the Cabinet" and said she would run a campaign of "hope, not grievance." She said she would carry on the type of campaigning undertaken by Rayner, who combined deputy leadership with a Cabinet role.
Her main rival in the contest is Lucy Powell, the MP for Manchester Central and a former Cabinet colleague who lost her role as Commons leader in the reshuffle that followed Rayner’s resignation. Powell has attracted support from elements of Labour’s hard and soft left and has called for a cultural shift at Downing Street to make it more receptive to differing views.
"We've got a bit of a group-think happening at the top, that culture of not being receptive to interrogation, not being receptive to differing views," Powell told The Guardian. The contest has been framed by some as a referendum on Prime Minister Keir Starmer's leadership after the loss of two prominent figures from his government in a short space of time.
Both Phillipson and Powell were the only candidates to secure enough nominations from fellow MPs to progress past the first round. To reach the ballot, candidates must also win the support of 5% of constituency parties or at least three affiliates, including at least two affiliated trade unions.
The ballot for members will open on Oct. 8 and close at noon on Oct. 23, with the winner due to be announced on Oct. 25.
Phillipson is widely viewed as the candidate favoured by the government and by Starmer, while Powell has been backed by Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. A new Labour group called Mainstream, described by supporters as a "home for Labour's radical realists," was launched this week and has drawn attention as politics in the party reorients after recent upheavals. Allies of Burnham have denied he is preparing a leadership bid, dismissing such reports as "pure speculation with no substance."
Business Secretary Peter Kyle said on Sky News he was backing Phillipson and praised Cabinet colleagues, calling them "fantastic." He also said Burnham was doing an "incredible job" in Manchester and that it would be a shame for the city to lose him.
Phillipson pledged to use the deputy leadership to sustain Labour’s campaign machinery ahead of a busy electoral calendar that includes local elections and devolved votes in Wales and Scotland. She framed the contest as a choice about the party’s direction ahead of those tests, promising to amplify the voices of members in government and to press for policies aimed at giving "more hope to families right across the country" and expanding opportunities for young people.
The deputy leadership race marks the latest intra-party fight as Labour seeks to consolidate after a high-profile fortnight; its outcome will provide an early indicator of how the party reconciles competing factions ahead of the next general election.