Overview
- Bridget Phillipson formally launched her bid in Sunderland, pledging to keep a campaigning deputy role, give members a strong voice at the cabinet table, and take on Reform UK.
- Lucy Powell casts herself as a full-time, independent deputy prepared to speak hard truths to the leadership, while rejecting as sexist the portrayal of the contest as a Starmer–Burnham proxy fight.
- Both candidates cleared the MPs’ nomination hurdle, with reported tallies of 175 for Phillipson and 117 for Powell, and now seek CLP or affiliate backing before members vote from 8–23 October with a result on 25 October.
- Bookmaker StarSports has made Powell the favourite despite Phillipson’s larger haul of MP nominations.
- Powell’s campaign is being chaired by ex-minister Justin Madders, as recent government missteps including the Mandelson episode sharpen party tensions in the background.