[link removed]
[link removed]

Dear John,

Lucy Powell has just been unveiled as the new Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

Despite being demoted from the role of Leader of the House in the recent Cabinet reshuffle, she has defeated Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson by an enormous 14,000 votes.

It’s no secret the Prime Minister wanted Phillipson to win, amid a number of anonymous briefings criticising Powell coming out of Number 10.

Phillipson herself even claimed the election of Powell would lead to further ‘division’ within the party, as her lack of a Ministerial brief would allow her to be more vocal in her criticism of the leadership. But it’s precisely that argument which HELPED Powell to victory - and made her the more appealing option in the eyes of party members.

It’s clear the membership are increasingly frustrated with the direction of their party under Starmer’s leadership. Whilst some of this is due to the policies Labour are pursuing, so much of this disillusionment comes from a failure to address fundamental issues in our democracy - the kind previous Tory governments perpetuated, which we were told this party would resolve.

Powell’s pitch addressed some of these matters:
* Looser whips, to allow MPs to vote in line with their conscience more often, and not be suspended so quickly.
* ⁠Greater consideration for party conference motions, to reflect the will of members, and avoid embarrassments like the winter fuel U-turn.
* ⁠Closer interaction with backbench MPs, and a Cabinet looking out to the party rather than making decisions whilst facing inwards.

It was this final point in particular that likely played a large part in the win for Powell.

She can speak to backbench MPs and feed their concerns back to Keir and the Cabinet freely and publicly - Phillipson remains bound by her brief. In a party where so many feel their voices simply aren’t being heard - this proved decisive.

And Lucy Powell has previously raised wider concerns about people believing their voices aren’t being heard - in the context of our voting system. Although she hasn’t made electoral reform a central pledge of her Deputy Leadership campaign, Powell said in a Q&A session at party conference last month that she has “always supported electoral reform”, acknowledging that “it comes up all the time, it’s very important to party members”.

We are pleased to see an advocate of more proportional voting at the top of the Labour Party, and we hope she can put pressure on the Prime Minister and the government to adopt this as policy.

In particular, we will encourage Lucy Powell join her Manchester party colleague Andy Burnham, and over 150 other Parliamentarians in our APPG for Fair Elections, in calling for a National Commission on Electoral Reform (NCER). This is a logical step the government can take to acknowledge that FPTP is not fit for purpose, and that we need a new voting system. combination of British people and experts will then determine what the best proportional voting system to replace this may be.

It’s clear Powell’s victory represents an opportunity for Labour to change course, and not only act in a manner more representative of its membership, but make upgrades to our democracy which would be welcomed across the political spectrum.

As trust in the government and our politics more widely continues to fall - we hope she is successful in this mission.

All the best,

James Patrick

Campaigns and Content Officer, Open Britain
SUPPORT OUR WORK ([link removed])

View email in browser ([link removed])
Open Britain . Orion House . 14 Barn Hill . Stamford, PE9 2AE . United Kingdom
update your preferences ([link removed]) or unsubscribe ([link removed])