11:26 BST
Image source, PA MediaLucy Powell’s political life started early, very early. Her mother went into labour with her on the day of the general election in 1974 – she
even delayed going into hospital to make sure she could vote first.
Powell grew up in Didsbury, Manchester, an area which has
been variously dubbed the “stockbroker” or “muesli” belt
following a few years of gentrification.
Between 1998 and 2005, she worked for Britain in Europe, a
group campaigning in favour of the UK’s membership of the EU.
In 2010, she ran Ed Miliband’s successful bid to lead the
Labour Party and continued working for him as his deputy chief of staff until
2012, when she won a by-election to represent the safe Labour seat of
Manchester Central.
A year later she was promoted to the shadow cabinet and
continued to serve in different frontbench roles until 2016.
When Labour won the 2024 election, she became Leader of the
House of Commons, whose main job is managing government business in Parliament,
as well as modernising Parliament and improving working conditions for MPs and
staff.
In the major reshuffle that followed Angela Rayner’s
resignation in September, Powell was one of the few ministers to be sacked from
government.
Asked about her vision for Labour, she said her Manchester
Central constituency was made up of “classic Red Wall constituents – white
working class, older voters” and “younger, liberal, left-leaning
voters who haven’t got that long-standing cultural loyalty to Labour”.
She argued that Labour could achieve that by building a
“fairer economy, an economy that works in the interests of the many, not
the few”.