Keir Starmer faced a significant challenge today as Lucy Powell was appointed as the new deputy leader of the Labour Party, cautioning that his leadership style lacks sufficient boldness.

Powell, who was dismissed from the Cabinet by the Prime Minister just last month, triumphed over Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson in the leadership race.

Powell secured 87,407 votes, compared to Phillipson’s 73,536, winning with 54 percent of the vote to Phillipson’s 46 percent. However, voter turnout was notably low at just 16.6 percent.

In her victory speech delivered in central London, Powell emphasized the critical challenges facing the party, declaring, “We are in the fight of our lives.” She highlighted the growing division and animosity in society, noting that people are searching for answers elsewhere.

Powell asserted that Labour has a singular opportunity to demonstrate that progressive politics can effectively serve Britain.

While she expressed her intent to support Sir Keir, Powell delivered a candid critique of his leadership performance.

‘We must give a stronger sense of our purpose, whose side we are on and of our Labour values and beliefs,’ she said.

‘People feel that this government is not being bold enough in delivering the kind of change we promised.’ 

Bridget Phillipson (centre) was viewed as the leadership’s candidate by dint of her status as a serving Cabinet minister

Sir Keir embraced Ms Powell after her victory was announced

There was also a hug for defeated candidate Ms Phillipson, who will stay in her Cabinet job

Ms Powell – who has made clear she does not want a ministerial role – said that the government needed to seize back the ‘megaphone’ and could not ‘out-Reform Reform’. 

‘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,’ she said.

Speaking after his new deputy, Sir Keir admitted the extraordinary disaster in the Senedd by-election for Caerphilly yesterday had been ‘bad’.

He accused Reform and the Tories of wanting to ‘deport our neighbours’ with retrospective changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain status.  

The Manchester MP has vowed to speak her mind about the need for the party to change direction. 

She is a close ally of Andy Burnham – seen by some as a potential replacement for Sir Keir.

Speaking to Labour campaigners gathered in London, she said she was ‘absolutely thrilled’ to have been elected, adding: ‘It really rests on our shoulders now as the Labour party, the Labour government, to prove that progressive mainstream politics can really change people’s lives for the better. 

‘We are facing these forces of division, of hate, of disillusionment of discontentment and it’s our job to see that off and to really stand together, stand tall, in the face of that division and that hate.

‘I want to show for people what this Labour government is really about. We are about changing people’s lives for the better. The country hasn’t worked for people for the last 14 years and we are going about fixing that every single day.’

Speaking to Sky News after the result was announced, defeated Ms Phillipson said: ‘Of course I’m disappointed to lose but I want to congratulate Lucy. She ran a good campaign, she has my full support. 

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer with Labour’s new deputy leader Lucy Powell on Saturday

The latest miserable week for Keir Starmer was capped yesterday when Plaid Cymru romped home in the Senedd by-election for Caerphilly

‘What we all need to do now is unite as a party, beat Reform and secure that second Labour government.

‘What I heard from members right across the country is that they do want us to be proud of the achievements so far of this government, and you’ll be hearing a lot more from me in the weeks and months to come.’

The result comes amid mounting Labour panic about a collapse in public support and the threat from Reform.

As crucial local elections loom in May, left-wingers have been demanding ‘wealth taxes’ at the Budget next month to fund a fresh spending splurge. 

The latest miserable week for Sir Keir was capped yesterday when Plaid Cymru romped home in the Senedd by-election for Caerphilly.

Labour was relegated to third place with just 11 per cent of the vote in an area it has dominated for a century. 

Nigel Farage’s party saw a massive surge to come second, although that was seen as a disappointing outcome.

Sir Keir said today: ‘We must press ahead with the renewal that working people need to see.

‘Now, this week, we received another reminder of just how urgent that task is.

‘A bad result in Wales, I accept that, but a reminder that people need to look out their window and see change and renewal in their community, opportunities for their children, public services rebuilt, the cost of living crisis tackled.

‘Renewal is the only answer to decline, to grievance and to division and we have to keep going on that.

‘It is the offer we must make to the people of Scotland, Wales and England next year.

‘And that means we must come together. We must unite. We must keep our focus on what is, in my view, the defining battle for the soul of our nation.’

Reacting to the result, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage tweeted: ‘As only 160,000 Labour party members vote in the Deputy Leadership contest today, the question must now be…. How many members do they actually have?’

The Labour big beasts waited awkwardly to hear the news in central London this morning

Today’s result comes in a bad week for the government, following a breath-taking blunder that resulted in a Channel migrant who was jailed for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl released into the community, rather the sent for deportation. 

Sir Keir has also seen his Channel boats plan descend into chaos, with a migrant returned to France under the vaunted ‘one in, one out’ deal turning up on UK shores again.

There are claims that Emmanuel Macron has reneged on an agreement to get tougher about stopping dinghies leaving the French coast.

And Germany appears to be backing off a commitment to close a loophole than means helping smuggle people to Britain is not illegal.  

The deputy leader battle was triggered by the resignation of Angela Rayner after admitting underpaying stamp duty.

Ms Phillipson was viewed as the leadership’s candidate by dint of her status as a serving Cabinet minister. 

She acknowledged the result was ‘disappointing’, but said: ‘I’ll remain a strong voice for our movement in Cabinet, working to deliver a crucial second term.’ 

Health Secretary Wes Streeting referred to the resignation of Ms Rayner, posting on X: ‘An election that nobody wanted, with two brilliant candidates and a worthy winner.’

During the campaign, Ms Powell frequently referred to ‘mistakes’ made by the party on issues such as the winter fuel allowance.

In a final message to supporters this week she appeared to criticise a ‘command and control’ culture within Government, arguing that ‘blindly following along’ was ‘a dereliction of our duty to defeat the politics of hate and division’.

Polls of Labour members have suggested more than half of whom now believe the party is heading in the wrong direction.

Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: ‘Weak Keir Starmer has had the candidate he didn’t want and who he fired last month imposed on him by the Labour Party.

‘He didn’t have the backbone to stand up to Lucy Powell on welfare spending before, he won’t have the backbone stand up to Lucy Powell now.

‘That means more unfunded welfare spending like reversing the two-child cap and higher taxes this autumn to pay for it.’