🔗 Share this article

The Labour Party is poised to announce its fresh deputy chief today, with polls pointing to the Manchester Central MP in front of the education secretary as balloting concluded on the previous Thursday.

The Day's Political Agenda

Presented is the politics schedule for Saturday, as per the PA news agency:

• 10am: Labour’s new deputy leader will be announced in London. Addresses are anticipated afterwards from the victor and the PM.
• 1pm: Protesters from opposing groups are likely to descend on different sides of the capital after authorities banned Ukip supporters from gathering in an East London area due to concerns of serious disorder.
• Today: Vote counting starts to reveal the next president of Ireland.

Meanwhile, Epping Forest MP Conservative MP Neil Hudson is on the morning media rounds for the Tory party.

Election Key Points and Candidate Positions

During the election race, Lucy Powell frequently mentioned mistakes made by the party on matters such as the winter fuel allowance. In a final message to backers, she appeared to criticise a top-down culture within government, arguing that unquestioning compliance was a failure of duty.

Should Powell wins, the outcome is expected to be seen as a criticism to Keir Starmer's governance from Labour members.

The prime minister has already endured a challenging week, dominated by a row over the grooming gangs investigation and a defeat in the Senedd byelection in Caerphilly.

Labour’s struggles in the opinion polls have led to questions among MPs about Starmer’s leadership.

Lucy Powell has stressed that she wants to help Keir and our government to succeed but also informed supporters the Labour needs to adapt how it functions to turn things around.

In contrast, Phillipson, seen as Number 10's favored choice, has highlighted unity, cautioning that choosing her opponent would result in internal debate and splits that could return the party back to being in opposition.

Additional Political Headlines

• Cutting the cash Isa limit may not persuade savers to switch to shares but could increase home loan rates, MPs have warned the chancellor.
• A wipeout for the Labour Party in next May’s local elections could spell the end of Starmer's leadership, parliamentarians have stated, after the Labour suffered a significant loss in its Welsh heartland.
• The former prime minister was the only politician provided a testimonial by the deputy national security adviser implicated in a dispute over the collapse of a case against two British men alleged of espionage for China.

The outcome of the deputy leadership election is scheduled to be declared at 10:00 AM British Summer Time.