2025 Labour Party deputy leadership election

2025 Labour Party deputy leadership election
5 September – 25 October 2025 (2025-09-05 – 2025-10-25)
Turnout16.6%
 
Candidate Lucy Powell Bridget Phillipson
Popular vote 87,407 73,536
Percentage 54.3% 45.7%
Deputy Leader before election

Vacant[note 1]

 Elected Deputy Leader

Lucy Powell

The 2025 Labour Party deputy leadership election was triggered on 5 September 2025 by the resignation of Angela Rayner as deputy leader of the Labour Party. It was the first deputy leadership election held by Labour in government since the 2007 deputy leadership election.

The results were announced on 25 October, and Lucy Powell was elected with 54.3% of the vote, saying: "We won't win by trying to out-Reform Reform, but by building a broad progressive consensus".[1][2]

Background

The 2020 deputy leadership election resulted in the election of soft left candidate Angela Rayner as deputy leader of the Labour Party, serving under Labour leader Keir Starmer. Following Labour's victory in the 2024 general election, Rayner served as Starmer's deputy prime minister and housing secretary until 5 September 2025, when she resigned after underpaying stamp duty tax.[3][4] Rayner also resigned as deputy leader of the Labour Party, triggering an internal leadership election to elect a new deputy leader, in line with the provisions of the Labour Party Constitution.[3][5][6] It was the first deputy leadership election held by Labour in government since the 2007 deputy leadership election.

The timeline of the campaign was decided by the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party (NEC) on 8 September.[5][7] The constitution of the party states that a deputy leadership election, if triggered while Labour is in government, must be held at the next Labour Party Conference, which was scheduled to take place from 28 September to 1 October 2025.[8][9] As the election was triggered less than a month before the conference, the NEC delayed the election to a later date.

The contest was marked by ill-concealed acrimony, with Phillipson launching multiple attacks branding Powell as a return to the disunity and division, as well accusing her of having no clout.[10][11] By contrast, Powell argued that she would be a full-time Deputy Leader, bringing the heart of the party to the head of government, and calling for the government to be bolder, rather than trying to out-Reform Reform.[11]

Timetable

Timetable for the 2025 Labour Party deputy leadership election[12][13]
Date Event
5 Sep Angela Rayner announces her resignation as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party after being found to have broken the ministerial code, triggering the election.
8 Sep Freeze date for elector eligibility.
9 Sep Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) nominations open.
10 Sep PLP candidate hustings are held.
11 Sep PLP nominations close (17:00 BST).
12 Sep Deadline for validly nominated candidates to consent to nomination and submit statements for circulation to Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) and affiliates (13:00).
13 Sep Constituency Labour Party and affiliate nominations open.
27 Sep Close of CLP and affiliate nominations; deadline to clear arrears to be issued a ballot.
1 Oct Hustings at conference.[14]
5 Oct Deadline to resolve disputes as to voter eligibility.
8 Oct Ballots open.
22 Oct Last date to reissue electronic ballots.
23 Oct Ballots close (12:00).
25 Oct Results announced.

Campaign

Prior to candidate announcements

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, who was unable to contest the election as he was not an MP, endorsed the prospective campaigns of either Louise Haigh or Lucy Powell, both of whom were former cabinet ministers in the Starmer ministry.[15] Jess Phillips was reportedly supported by a group of MPs prior to her declining to run.[15]

Former deputy leader Harriet Harman said that the next deputy should be a woman.[16]

Whilst Starmer did not publicly endorse any candidate, it was widely understood that Phillipson was his preferred candidate.[17]

MP nomination stage

One Labour source suggested the race would come down to Powell against Phillipson, but other sources suggested the final ballot would be hard to predict, especially if candidates sought to avoid a contest among members.[18] In the evening of 9 September, Politico's Playbook newsletter suggested Phillipson was the early frontrunner and may hit the 80 required nominations by the end of the day.[19] Phillipson's team claimed to have passed the 80 MP threshold by 16:00 (BST) on 10 September.[20]

According to George Eaton, writing in The New Statesman, Phillipson was seen as the preferred candidate of Number 10,[21] and she was supported by many pro-leadership MPs and Ministers.[22] Powell's most senior nominators, according to her campaign website, were Ed Miliband, Louise Haigh, Lisa Nandy and Stephen Kinnock.[23]

Phillipson was regarded as having "solid right-of-centre backing".[24]

Candidates

Following changes to the Labour Party's constitution in 2021, candidates for the deputy leadership were required to be a sitting MP.[25] They had to also receive nominations from 20% of the Parliamentary Labour Party (80 MPs as of September 2025) and either 5% (33) of Constituency Labour Parties or three organisations affiliated to the Labour Party, including at least two affiliated trade unions, to qualify for the ballot.[26][8]

Neither of the final two candidates are regarded as left-wing.[24]

Nominated by parliamentarians

Candidate Political office(s) MP Nominations[27] Campaign
website

Bridget Phillipson 		Secretary of State for Education (2024–)
Minister for Women and Equalities (2024–)
MP for Houghton and Sunderland South (2010–) 		www.backbridget.com
(Archived)

Lucy Powell 		Former Leader of the House of Commons (2024–2025)
MP for Manchester Central (2012–) 		www.lucyfordeputy.co.uk
(Archived)

Failed to reach required number of nominations

Candidate Political office(s) MP Nominations[27] Ref

Bell Ribeiro-Addy 		MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill (2019–) [28][29]

Withdrawn

Candidate Political office(s) Withdrew Ref.

Alison McGovern 		Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution (2025–)
MP for Birkenhead (2024–) 		10 September 2025
(endorsed Phillipson) 		[30]

Emily Thornberry 		Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee (2024–)
MP for Islington South and Finsbury (2005–) 		11 September 2025 [31]

Paula Barker 		MP for Liverpool Wavertree (2019–) 11 September 2025
(endorsed Powell) 		[31]

Declined

The following candidates were speculated as potential candidates but did not stand in the election:

Nominations and endorsements

After receiving the nominations of over 20% of the PLP (80 MPs), to reach the all members' ballot, both candidates require the support of either 5% of CLPs or 3 affiliated organisations that represent at least 5% of the affiliate membership (including 2 trade unions).[41][42]

Both candidates received enough nominations to make it on to the membership ballot[43]

Bridget Phillipson

Bridget Phillipson
CLPs[43]
Trade Unions[44][43]
Socialist Societies[45]

Lucy Powell

Lucy Powell
CLPs[43]
Trade Unions[43]
Socialist Societies[43]

Other endorsements

Powell was endorsed by the soft-left Tribune Group of MPs,[21] along with the left-wing Momentum recommending a tactical vote for Powell.[46] Phillipson had the backing of groups representing the right wing of the party, including Labour First, Labour to Win and Progressive Britain.[47]

Among the combined authority mayors, Claire Ward,[48] Kim McGuinness[48] and Richard Parker[49] supported Phillipson, while Andy Burnham supported Powell.[48]

The Red Wall Caucus supported a northern woman without making a specific endorsement for either of the two leading candidates.[50] Powell also received the endorsement of the Co-operative Party.

Labour's largest Union, Unite, refused to endorse either candidate with the Unite General Secretary condemning the lack of choice on offer, and calling for "huge investment into our crumbling infrastructure and our public services, a pay rise for British workers".[51]

Opinion polling

Labour Party members

Phillipson vs Powell
Date(s) conducted Pollster/client Sample size First preference
Phillipson Powell NOTA/
Don't know 		Lead
17–22 Oct 2025 Survation/LabourList 1,005 40% 57% 3% Powell +17
23–25 Sep 2025 Survation/LabourList 1,254 26% 57% 18% Powell +31
33% 67% — Powell +34[a]
19–25 Sep 2025 YouGov/Sky News 704 28% 35% 35% Powell +7
Sep 2025 Survation/LabourList & Peston 1,112 30% 47% 23% Powell +17
39% 61% — Powell +22[b]
Multiple candidates
Date(s) conducted Pollster/client Sample size First preference
Allin-Khan Haigh Lammy Mahmood Owen Powell Ribeiro-Addy Streeting Thornberry NOTA Lead
5–8 Sep 2025 Find Out Now 518 6% 5% 22% 3% 3% 3% 1% 13% 18% 25% Lammy +4
5 Sep Angela Rayner resigns from her cabinet roles and as Deputy Labour Leader

Results

The results were announced on 25 October 2025 by the Chair of the National Executive Committee Shabana Mahmood to a small audience, which could be watched live on YouTube. There were 970,642 eligible voters who had at least six months membership and were not in payment arrears: party members, socialist society members and members of affiliated trade unions who paid the political levy. 160,943 eligible votes were cast (16.6%), with 50 spoiled ballots. Turnout of party members and others was not given separately as in previous elections; historically most of those eligible were affiliated trade union members with a low turnout.[52][53]

Lucy Powell was elected deputy leader with 87,407 votes (54.3%), with Bridget Phillipson receiving 73,536 votes (45.7%).[52][53]

Candidate Votes %
Lucy Powell 87,407 54.3
Bridget Phillipson 73,536 45.7

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "When those who are undecided were asked which candidate they leaned towards, Powell’s lead increased to a ratio of two to one over Phillipson, with 67% to 33% respectively."
  2. ^ "When those undecided voters were asked to choose between the two, the result was 61 per cent Powell, 39 per cent Phillipson."
  1. ^ Angela Rayner resigned as Deputy Leader on 5 September 2025.

References

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  2. ^ Pickard, Jim (25 October 2025). "Keir Starmer's government has hit rock bottom, senior minister says". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 25 October 2025.
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