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MP secures support of trade union members in deputy leadership race
Sunderland Echo
|September 17, 2025
Bridget Phillipson MP has secured the backing of Usdaw members to be the deputy leader of the Labour Party.
The education secretary is the first candidate in the race to replace Angela Rayner as second in command to Keir Starmer to secure official trade union backing.
The former St Robert of Newminster pupil is set to go head-to-head with Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell after the pair were the only two candidates to secure the necessary 80 nominations from fellow Labour MPs.
Mrs Phillipson received 175 nominations with Mrs Powell getting the backing of 117 supporters.
The two remaining candidates will now have to secure the support of five per cent of constituency parties or at least three affiliates-including at least two affiliated trade unions.
The National Executive Council of retail trade union Usdaw is the first union to make their election preference known by giving their official support to Mrs Phillipson.
This story is from the September 17, 2025 edition of Sunderland Echo.
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