The 2025 Labour Party deputy leader contest

Who is the new deputy leader of the Labour Party?

Lucy Powell has been elected the new deputy leader of the Labour Party following Angela Rayner’s resignation, beating Bridget Phillipson in the final round of voting.

The party membership ballot closed at 12pm on 23 October and the results were announced two days later on 25 October. Powell won the contest with 87,407 votes to Bridget Phillipson's 73,536. 

Powell was elected the MP for Manchester Central in July 2024. She previously served as Leader of the House of Commons but Starmer’s first reshuffle in September 2025 saw Powell leave her role in government.

Who were the candidates?

Two candidates met the threshold of nominations required to confirm their place in the deputy leadership contest:

• Bridget Phillipson, MP for Houghton and Sunderland.
• Lucy Powell, MP for Manchester Central. 

Phillipson secured 175 nominations from Labour MPs while Powell received 117 nominations. 

Bell Riberio-Addy, the MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, failed to meet the MP nominations threshold having received only 24 nominations. As a result, she did not proceed to the next stage of the contest. 

Three other contenders withdrew their candidacy before the MP nomination stage closed:

• Alison McGovern, junior housing minister.
• Dame Emily Thornberry, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
• Paula Barker, MP for Liverpool Wavertree.

Their supporters were given the opportunity to change their nomination to back one of the remaining candidates.

Why was there a deputy leadership contest?

Angela Rayner's resignation on 5 September left the Labour Party deputy leader position vacant.  

Rayner stepped down from her responsibilities as housing secretary and deputy prime minister as well as deputy party leader on Friday 5 September. This came after an investigation conducted by the prime minister’s independent ethics adviser concluded that Rayner “cannot be considered to have met ‘the highest possible standards of proper conduct’” as required by the ministerial code. Rayner referred herself to the independent adviser after admitting that she failed to pay sufficient stamp duty on her flat in Hove. 

In the days following her resignation, the Labour Party’s governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), agreed on the process and timetable to elect a new deputy leader. 

How does the Labour deputy leadership contest work? 

The Labour Party rule book sets out the process to elect a new deputy leader. First, candidates who wish to throw their hat in the ring must secure the nomination of at least 20% of Labour MPs, which currently stands as the equivalent of 80 MPs. MPs can only choose one candidate to nominate for the contest. 

Second, the candidates need to seek nomination from at least 5% of constituency Labour parties (CLPs), or from at least three affiliated (trade union) supporters that make up 5% of fully paid affiliated party members. 

Finally, the confirmed list of candidates who have successfully met these thresholds will be put to the vote of the party membership. Both Labour party members and affiliated trade union supporters can vote. To be eligible to vote, party members must be able to demonstrate at least six months of continuous membership. Affiliated trade union supporters are also required to have been members for the same length of time. 

Since 2015, the party has adopted a one person, one vote system to ensure that the same individual cannot vote both as a trade union member and as a Labour Party member. 

The Labour Party uses the alternative vote system, or a preferential ballot. Party members rank each candidate in order of preference. If one candidate gets over 50% of the vote, they are elected. If no candidate manages this, then the candidate who finishes last is removed and their votes are redistributed to voters’ second preference candidates. This process is repeated until one candidate has more than half of the votes. 

Once the ballot closes, the party announces the winner of the contest who then becomes the deputy leader of the Labour Party. 

When did the contest take place?

The exact timings of each leadership contest are decided by the NEC.  

For the most recent contest, MP nominations opened on 9 September and closed on 11 September at 5pm. CLP and affiliate nominations opened on 13 September, remained open for two weeks, and closed on 27 September.  

The Labour Party Conference took place between 28 September and 1 October. At the conference, a husting was held as an opportunity for the candidates to make their pitch to the members.

The party membership ballot opened on 8 October and closed two weeks later at 12pm on 23 October. The winner of the contest was then declared two days later, on 25 October.

Is the deputy party leader different from the deputy prime minister?

The Labour Party deputy leader and the Labour deputy prime minister are two different roles. Although Rayner previously held both positions, the deputy party leader does not automatically become deputy prime minister or vice versa. 

The deputy prime minister is appointed by the prime minister, whereas the deputy party leader is elected by the party membership via the process outlined above. 

David Lammy is the current deputy prime minister and was appointed by Keir Starmer on 5 September following Rayner’s resignation.