"Labour's deputy leadership contest is set to be a race between the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, and the ousted cabinet minister Lucy Powell, as three other candidates in the race struggled to make nominations. Phillipson comfortably cleared the hurdle of 80 nominations on Wednesday evening with backing from 116 MPs, but Powell was not yet at the threshold with 77 nominations."
"Several MPs said any race between Powell and Phillipson would be deeply uncomfortable for No 10. It's a proxy war between Keir and Andy Burnham, said one MP, referring to Powell's close ties to the mayor of Greater Manchester, seen by many as a potential successor to Starmer. The former Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop called it the first skirmish between Burnham and [Morgan] McSweeney. A source close to Powell said the briefings were frankly sexist and were wrong and stupid."
Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell are competing to be Labour deputy leader after three other candidates failed to amass significant nominations. Phillipson secured 116 MP backers and easily passed the 80-nomination threshold, while Powell had 77 nominations and was still below the cutoff. Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Paula Barker and Emily Thornberry each attracted fewer than 15 MPs, and Alison McGovern withdrew and endorsed Phillipson. Some MPs described a potential Phillips-Powell contest as uncomfortable and framed it as a proxy contest linked to Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham. Powell gained support from the red wall hustings and the soft-left Tribune group, while Phillipson drew broad PLP support.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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