Lucy Powell has called for a \u201cchange of culture\u201d inside Keir Starmer\u2019s Downing Street to make it more inclusive and better connected to MPs, promising that as Labour\u2019s deputy leader she would when needed deliver difficult truths to the prime minister.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Guardian after she secured<\/a> 117 MP nominations in the battle to replace Angela Rayner, Powell said a sequence of what she called \u201cunforced errors\u201d by the government had left many Labour MPs and members frustrated.<\/p>\n Powell now faces a vote of party members against Bridget Phillipson<\/a>, the education secretary, who reached 175 endorsements and is viewed as No 10\u2019s preferred choice to take on the role.<\/p>\n Powell was Commons leader until she was sacked from the government in last week\u2019s reshuffle<\/a>, a decision she said was a complete shock, and for which she had as yet received no explanation.<\/p>\n She said she believed it could be because she sometimes passed on MPs\u2019 concerns to Downing Street, and that if elected she would hope to continue such a \u201cshop steward\u201d role, making the government less factional and closed-off.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need some change, and we do need a change of culture, especially how we\u2019re going about making decisions, and how we\u2019re going about including people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI really, really want this Labour<\/a> government to succeed, and we\u2019re at our best when we use all the talents that we\u2019ve got, all the voices that we\u2019ve got, the experience that we\u2019ve got, to make better decisions and have fewer unforced errors, mistakes that are really frustrating people.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got a bit of a groupthink happening at the top, that culture of not being receptive to interrogation, not being receptive to differing views. But it\u2019s a show of strength, a show of being effective, when you are receptive to interrogation and accountability and differing views, and then you come to better decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n Lucy Powell (left) and Bridget Phillipson. Composite: UK parliament\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Concerns about a seemingly clique-ridden and unresponsive Downing Street operation are common among Labour MPs, and while some blame senior No 10 staff such as Morgan McSweeney, Powell said Starmer must also take responsibility.<\/p>\n Asked if he had a part in this, she said: \u201cCulture is set at the top, of course it is.\u201d Powell said, however, that her aim was to be constructive, and help avoid errors such as the U-turn over changes to disability benefits<\/a> and winter fuel payments<\/a>, and the initial defence<\/a> of Peter Mandelson before he was sacked as UK ambassador to Washington.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I don\u2019t want to do is stand at the sidelines, filling the airwaves with criticism of the government,\u201d she said. \u201cI really want this government to succeed, but I\u2019m not afraid to speak truth where that truth needs to be spoken. In the main, I would hope to do that within the family \u2013 and let\u2019s have a broad family.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are frustrated at the moment. There are issues, no doubt about that. I want to make sure that our MPs and our Labour members feel proud and enthused with what this government is doing, so they can be the best champions for it they can be.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that to do that, we need to be more inclusive, we need to respect and take on board the broad church that is the Labour party.\u201d<\/p>\n