1.2.2 – Established political parties
In addition to resigning from her roles in Government, Angela Rayner also resigned as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. Unlike with her positions as Deputy PM and in the cabinet, choosing her replacement as Deputy Leader is not one of Keir Starmer’s prerogative powers. Instead, an election will now take place with the result due to be announced on 25 October. It will be contested by Bridget Phillipson (Education Secretary) and Lucy Powell (recently sacked from her role as Leader of the House of Commons). The deadline for nominations closed on Thursday, with the two candidates comfortably surpassing the required threshold of 80 MPs (20% of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP)).
There were several other declared candidates – the left’s choice, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, failed to reach the threshold after garnering just 24 nominations, whilst Alison McGovern, Paula Barker, and Emily Thornberry dropped out when it became clear they did not have a path to 80 nominations. Phillipson and Powell must now gain the support of either 33 Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) or three affiliated groups (including two trade unions). The election was due to take place using the alternative vote (AV), but as there are only two candidates it will simply be a case of ‘most votes wins’.
This is the first time that a deputy leadership contest will take place without a simultaneous leadership contest since 1981 – a contest that was highly significant in defining the future direction of the party. The then Deputy Leader, Denis Healey, was challenged by Tony Benn – a leading figure on the left of the party. Had Healey – a moderate – been defeated, it is widely believed that Labour would have lost significantly more support to the bourgeoning Social Democratic Party (SDP), who were founded earlier that year.
Whilst this year’s contest may not be quite as stark in terms of a left/right divide, some are still regarding it as a referendum
on Starmer’s leadership. Phillipson, with 175 nominations, is seen as the leadership’s preferred candidate, and a victory for her will be seen as an endorsement of the direction the party is going in. A victory for Powell, however, will serve as a wake-up call for Starmer and a warning about drifting too far to the right. Powell, the MP for Manchester Central, is a close ally of the Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, who has become a thorn in Starmer’s side and a vocal critic of the direction he has taken the party in. It is noticeable that Powell was backed by several MPs who were recently sacked in Starmer’s reshuffle, suggesting a growing tension within the parliamentary party, particularly from those sacked after just one year in post.
Overall, whilst the position of Deputy Leader confers very little actual authority on its holder, the result of this election – taking place without a concurrent leadership election – will widely be seen as an assessment of Keir Starmer’s performance and the future direction of the party. Failure to help Phillipson over the line will be embarrassing for Starmer and his team, and will give encouragement to those on the left of the party to mount further pressure on the leadership to try to influence government policy going forward.