Lucy Powell Explained

Lucy Powell
Honorific-Suffix:MP
Office:Leader of the House of Commons
Lord President of the Council
Primeminister:Keir Starmer
Term Start:5 July 2024
Predecessor:Penny Mordaunt
Embed:yes
Subterm:2023–2024
Suboffice:Commons Leader
Subterm1:2021–2023
Suboffice1:Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Subterm2:2021–2021
Suboffice2:Housing
Subterm3:2015–2016
Suboffice3:Education
Subterm4:2014–2015
Suboffice4:Cabinet Office
Office1:Member of Parliament
for Manchester Central
Term Start1:15 November 2012
Predecessor1:Tony Lloyd
Majority1:13,797 (34.7%)
Birth Name:Lucy Maria Powell
Birth Date:10 October 1974
Birth Place:Manchester, England
Party:Labour Co-op
Spouse:James Williamson
Children:2
Education:Parrs Wood High School
Xaverian College
Alma Mater:Somerville College, Oxford
King's College London
Honorific Prefix:The Right Honourable

Lucy Maria Powell (born 10 October 1974)[1] is a British politician who has served as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since July 2024.[2] A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester Central since 2012. Prior to her election, she worked in campaigning and PR roles for Britain in Europe, NESTA and the Labour Party. She was a shadow Cabinet Office minister and vice-chair for the 2015 general election campaign. She was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Education in September 2015, but resigned in June 2016. She served as Shadow Minister for Business and Consumers from April 2020 to May 2021, and Shadow Secretary of State for Housing from May to November 2021. She served as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons from 2023 to May 2024.[3]

Early life and education

Lucy Powell was born on 10 October 1974 in Moss Side. She attended Beaver Road Primary School and Parrs Wood High School in Didsbury, and then studied A-levels at Xaverian College.[4] She studied chemistry at the University of Oxford where she was an undergraduate student at Somerville College, Oxford, and then King's College London.[5]

Career

Powell began her career working as a parliamentary assistant for Beverley Hughes, after having worked at the Labour Party Headquarters in Millbank Tower during the 1997 general election campaign.[6]

She joined the pro-Euro and pro-EU Treaty pressure group Britain in Europe (BiE), originally in a public relations role and later as head of regional campaigning. She replaced Simon Buckby as Campaign Director of BiE. In this capacity, she worked with Chris Patten, Neil Kinnock, Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander.[7]

After BiE was wound down in June 2005 because of the referendum "No" votes in France and the Netherlands, she worked for the non-departmental public body or quango NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), initially in a public affairs role and later to establish and manage the Manchester Innovation Fund project.

From May 2010 to September 2010 Powell managed Ed Miliband's successful campaign for the Labour Party leadership. She then served as Ed Miliband's acting and later deputy chief of staff from September 2010 to April 2012.

Parliamentary career

Powell was selected as Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Manchester Withington in April 2007. At the 2010 general election, stood in Manchester Withington, coming second with 40.5% of the vote behind the incumbent Liberal Democrat MP John Leech.[8]

Powell was elected as MP for Manchester Central at the 2012 Manchester Central by-election, winning the election with 69.1% of the vote and a majority of 9,936 votes.[9]

Powell first joined the opposition front-bench in October 2013 as Shadow Childcare and Early Years Minister,[10] and entered the Shadow Cabinet in November 2014 as Shadow Cabinet Office Minister.

Powell was appointed vice-chair of the 2015 general election campaign by Ed Miliband,[11] in which Labour suffered a net loss of 26 seats, including a net loss of 40 seats in Scotland.[12] [13] She was heavily criticised for apparently suggesting that Labour's election pledges were liable to be broken: in talking about the EdStone, she commented: "I don't think anyone is suggesting that the fact that he's carved them into stone means that he is absolutely not going to break them or anything like that." She said that she had been quoted out of context.[14] She was responsible for Ed Miliband's interview with Russell Brand, described as a PR blunder.[15] As a result of these actions coupled to the result, Tanya Gold, writing for The Sunday Times, described her as "discredited".[16] In response to the result, Powell stated, "I bear my share of responsibility in this".[17]

Powell was re-elected as MP for Manchester Central at the 2015 general election with a decreased vote share of 61.3% and an increased majority of 21,639.[18] [19] In the subsequent 2015 Labour Party leadership election, she nominated Andy Burnham.[20]

On 13 September 2015, Powell was appointed as Shadow Education Secretary by Jeremy Corbyn, succeeding Tristram Hunt. As Shadow Education Secretary, she argued for bringing free schools and academies under Local Education Authority control.[21] She resigned from the Shadow Cabinet on 26 June 2016, along with dozens of shadow cabinet colleagues unhappy with Corbyn's leadership.[22] [23] She supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour leadership election.[24] However, she later stated that, "We were wrong about Jeremy Corbyn" in an interview following the 2017 general election.[25]

At the snap 2017 general election, Powell was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 77.4% and an increased majority of 31,445.[26]

In September 2017, the political commentator Iain Dale placed Powell at Number 81 in The 100 Most Influential People on the Left.[27]

In September 2018, Powell introduced legislation in the House of Commons to ban secret, private, invite-only groups on Facebook and hold moderators legally responsible for hate speech or defamation on forums.[28] [29] She is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[30]

At the 2019 general election, Powell was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 70.4% and a decreased majority of 29,089.[31]

On 9 April 2020, Powell rejoined the Labour front bench when she was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Business and Consumers by new party leader Keir Starmer.[32] In a minor reshuffle in May 2021, she was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as the Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, succeeding Thangam Debbonaire.[33]

In the November 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle, Powell was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.[34] Whilst in this post, Powell described herself as a "tech optimist".[35]

At the 2024 general election, Powell was again re-elected with a decreased vote share of 50.8% and a decreased majority of 13,797.[36]

Leader of the House of Commons (2024–)

After the Labour Party's victory in the 2024 general election, Powell was appointed the Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council by the new Prime Minister Keir Starmer on 5 July.[37]

Personal life

Powell is married to James Williamson, an emergency medicine doctor, and has three children – a stepson, a daughter, and a son.[38]

Powell supports Manchester City F.C.[39]

Powell was sworn of the Privy Council on 6 July 2024, entitling her to be styled "The Right Honourable".[40]

In 2021, Powell was named as one of 115 landlord Members of Parliament. She disputed this characterisation, tweeting "I have a lodger. I'm not a landlord." Housing lawyer Nick Bano wrote in Jacobin that this nonetheless constitutes being a landlord, and that having a lodger rather than a tenant is no mitigation as lodgers have less housing security than private tenants. He described her response as "defensive", saying she fails "to see a conflict between rent extraction during a housing crisis and the interests of her constituents".[41]

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Next Generation: Parliamentary Candidates to Watch . https://web.archive.org/web/20141108195215/http://richardwillisuk.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/insight-pa-the-next-generation.pdf . dead . 8 November 2014 . Insight Public Affairs . 2009 . 22 November 2012 .
  2. Web site: 5 July 2024 . Ministerial Appointments: July 2024 . 5 July 2024 . Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street . Gov.UK.
  3. Web site: Labour reshuffle live: Angela Rayner gets new role as Keir Starmer reshuffles team . 2023-09-04 . BBC News . 4 September 2023 . en-gb.
  4. Web site: Lucy Powell (Lab). men. Administrator. 28 April 2010. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150930183259/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/lucy-powell-lab-602060. 30 September 2015. dmy-all.
  5. Web site: About Lucy. 23 May 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170609133015/http://www.lucypowell.org.uk/aboutlucy. 9 June 2017. dmy-all. Lucy. Powell. 2017.
  6. Web site: PPC Profile: Lucy Powell – LabourList. 7 July 2009. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140310124444/http://labourlist.org/2009/07/ppc-profile-lucy-powell. 10 March 2014.
  7. News: Patrick Wintour, chief political correspondent. Kinnock joins Europe campaign. The Guardian. 24 September 2004. 16 November 2012. London, UK. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20130828070940/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/sep/24/uk.eu. 28 August 2013.
  8. Web site: Election Data 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130726162034/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2010.txt . 26 July 2013 . 17 October 2015 . Electoral Calculus.
  9. Web site: Labour's Lucy Powell elected MP for Manchester Central. Itv.com. 12 November 2012. 16 November 2012. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20121116225413/http://www.itv.com/news/granada/2012-11-16/labours-lucy-powell-elected-mp-for-manchester-central. 16 November 2012.
  10. Web site: Lucy Powell named new shadow minister for childcare and early years. 2021-02-15. Nursery World. en.
  11. News: Lucy Powell: Mancunian streetfighter taking on key role in Labour campaign. 13 May 2018. Guardian. 14 November 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129043406/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/14/lucy-powell-mancunian-streetfighter-taking-key-role-labour-campaign?CMP=share_btn_fb. 29 November 2014.
  12. Web site: Election 2015 Results: Conservatives win 12 seat majority. BBC News. 7 June 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150510034229/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2015/results. 10 May 2015.
  13. News: Wintour. Patrick. The undoing of Ed Miliband: and how Labour lost the election.. The Guardian. GMG. 7 June 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150606002203/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jun/03/undoing-of-ed-miliband-and-how-labour-lost-election. 6 June 2015. 3 June 2015.
  14. News: Lucy Powell denies doubts over Labour's election pledges. 7 June 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150507213351/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32592235. 7 May 2015. 5 May 2015.
  15. Web site: Lucy Powell: the campaign genius behind the 'Milibrand' interview. The Spectator. The Spectator Magazine. 7 June 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150603190953/http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/steerpike/2015/06/lucy-powell-the-campaign-genius-behind-the-milibrand-interview/. 3 June 2015. dmy-all. June 2015.
  16. Web site: Gold. Tanya. It's all about the Brand. The Sunday Times. London. 31 May 2015. 7 June 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150806033027/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/Magazine/article1559085.ece. 6 August 2015.
  17. Web site: Fitzgerald. Todd. Lucy Powell: I'll share the blame for Labour's poor election result. Manchester Evening News. MEN Media. 7 June 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150720090744/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/lucy-powell-ill-share-blame-9226798. 20 July 2015. 10 May 2015.
  18. Web site: Election Data 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151017112223/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2015.txt . 17 October 2015 . 17 October 2015 . Electoral Calculus.
  19. News: Lancashire West . 11 May 2015 . Manchester Central.
  20. Web site: Labour's leadership contest – The Labour Party . Labour.org.uk . 9 July 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150703143348/http://www.labour.org.uk/index.php/leadership . 3 July 2015 . dead . dmy-all .
  21. [The Independent]
  22. Web site: Jeremy Corbyn leadership crisis LIVE. Joe. Thomas. 26 June 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160626121034/http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/jeremy-corbyn-leadership-crisis-live-11526545. 26 June 2016.
  23. News: Syal. Rajeev. Perraudin. Frances. Slawson. Nicola. Shadow cabinet resignations: who has gone and who is staying. The Guardian. 27 June 2016. 14 September 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160722213447/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/26/labour-shadow-cabinet-resignations-jeremy-corbyn-who-has-gone. 22 July 2016.
  24. News: Which MPs are nominating Owen Smith in the Labour leadership contest?. Smith. Mikey. 20 July 2016. Mirror. 10 November 2018. Bloom. Dan. https://web.archive.org/web/20181110200048/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mps-nominating-owen-smith-labour-8451186. 10 November 2018. live.
  25. News: Lucy Powell: we were 'wrong about Corbyn'. BBC News . en-GB. 2019-07-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20190719124506/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/election-2017-40221465/lucy-powell-we-were-wrong-about-corbyn. 19 July 2019. live.
  26. Web site: Manchester Central – Statement of Persons Nominated & Notice of Poll . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170515011107/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/downloads/download/6694/statement_of_persons_nominated_and_notice_of_poll . 15 May 2017 . 19 May 2017 . manchester.gov.uk . Manchester City Council. Pdf.
  27. News: The 100 Most Influential People On The Left: Iain Dale's 2017 List. Dale. Iain. 25 September 2017. LBC. 2017-10-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20170925101152/http://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/iain-dale/100-most-influential-people-on-the-left-iain-dale. 25 September 2017. live.
  28. News: Powell . Lucy . Why I am seeking to stamp out online echo chambers of hate . 25 July 2021 . The Guardian . 10 Sep 2018.
  29. News: British Lawmaker Wants to Ban Your Private Facebook Groups Because She Worries You're Using Hate Speech. 19 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180920095412/http://reason.com/blog/2018/09/12/british-lawmaker-wants-to-ban-your-priva. 20 September 2018. live.
  30. Web site: LFI Supporters in Parliament. 8 September 2019. Labour Friends of Israel. https://web.archive.org/web/20191002100511/https://www.lfi.org.uk/in-parliament/. 2 October 2019. dead.
  31. Web site: UK Parliamentary General Election – 12 December 2019 . 13 December 2019 . manchester.gov.uk . Manchester City Council.
  32. News: Rodgers . Sienna . Shadow ministers appointed as Starmer completes frontbench . 11 April 2020 . LabourList . 9 April 2020.
  33. News: New Labour shadow housing minister revealed. Estate Agent Today. Norwood. Graham. 9 May 2021. 9 May 2021.
  34. Web site: Rodgers. Sienna. Big reshuffle sees Cooper, Streeting, Lammy, Reynolds, Phillipson promoted. 2021-11-30. LabourList. 29 November 2021 . en-GB.
  35. Web site: Dickson . Annabelle . 2023-03-23 . Britain's Labour Party used to hate Big Tech. Not any more . 2023-03-28 . POLITICO . en.
  36. News: Manchester Central - General election results 2024 . 2024-08-15 . BBC News . en-GB.
  37. Web site: 2024-07-05 . Who's in Keir Starmer's new cabinet? . 2024-07-06 . BBC News . en-gb.
  38. Web site: Interview: 'Hackgate hero' Tom Watson & Labour's Lucy Powell on the Manchester Central by-election campaign trail. Mancunian Matters. 7 July 2012. 16 November 2012. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20121113204133/http://mancunianmatters.co.uk/content/07074325-interview-hackgate-hero-tom-watson-labour%E2%80%99s-lucy-powell-manchester-central-election. 13 November 2012.
  39. News: Powell . Lucy . About Lucy Powell | Politics | guardian.co.uk . Guardian . 2008-02-07 . 2012-11-16 . London . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20141006211006/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2008/feb/07/aboutlucypowell . 6 October 2014 . dmy-all .
  40. Web site: 6 July 2024 . List of Business – 6 July 2024 . 8 July 2024 . Privy Council Office.
  41. Web site: Banos . Nick . The UK’s Parliament Is Full of Landlords . 2024-08-30 . jacobin.com . en-US.

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