Lucy Powell: No 10 culture needs change, says candidate

Lucy Powell has called for a "change of culture" inside Keir Starmer's Downing Street to make it more inclusive and better connected to MPs, promising that as Labour's deputy leader she would deliver difficult truths to the prime minister.

- Peter Walker

Speaking to the Guardian after she secured 117 MP nominations in the battle to replace Angela Rayner, Powell said a sequence of what she called "unforced errors" by the government had left many Labour MPs and members frustrated.

Powell now faces a vote of party members against Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, who reached 175 endorsements, and is viewed as No 10's preferred choice for the role.

Powell was Commons leader until she was sacked in last week's reshuffle, a decision she said was a complete shock, and for which she had as yet received no explanation.