Former Commons leader Lucy Powell has been crowned Labour’s new deputy leader in a closely fought race against Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.

Ms Powell received 87,407 votes to Ms Phillipson’s 73,536 – a majority of 13,871 – in a contest that was widely perceived as a referendum on Sir Keir Starmer’s popularity with the membership.

Ms Powell was seen as the “anti-Starmer” candidate given she was sacked from cabinet just last month, and centred her campaign on being an independent voice for the backbenches.

Politics live: Follow for updates as Labour names new deputy leader

Ms Phillipson was seen as Number 10’s preferred option, and she had pitched herself as the “unity candidate”, warning that voting for her opponent would result in “internal debate and divisions that leads us back to opposition”.

However speaking to Sky News’s political editor Beth Rigby following the result, Ms Powell insisted she would be a “friend” to the prime minister, adding: “I am confident we can work well together.”

She said she was not here to “write an alternative policy platform” but rather “to make sure Labour values and beliefs are right at the heart of the conversation, and that we’re giving a really clear sense of who we’re for”.

Ms Powell’s earlier victory speech made clear where she thought Labour was going wrong, and what she would challenge the government on.

The Manchester Central MP said Labour “won’t win by trying to out-Reform Reform, but by building a broad progressive consensus”.

She said that started with “wrestling back the political megaphone” from Reform leader Nigel Farage, and “setting the agenda more strongly”.

“Let’s be honest, we’ve let Farage and his ilk run away with it. He wants to blame immigration for all the country’s problems. We reject that,” she said.

“Our diagnosis is different, that for too long the country and the economy has worked in the interests of the few, not the many.”

The reference to “for the many not the few” – the slogan during Jeremy Corbyn’s time at the helm, was not lost on his then shadow chancellor John McDonnell.

The veteran left-winger said on X: “The Labour Party members have spoken & the message is clear, they want change. It’s good to see a return to references to the Labour Party serving once more the many not the few & that Labour must not try out Reform, Reform. Our members realise a new start is desperately needed.”

‘Unwanted deputy imposed on PM’

The deputy leadership role is important as it’s the key connection between the Labour members and the upper echelons of the Labour Party.

The race was triggered by the sudden departure of Angela Rayner, after she admitted to underpaying stamp duty.

The scandal sparked a reshuffle in which Ms Powell was one of the only casualties. It makes the new partnership potentially very awkward for Sir Keir, especially as his new deputy will be free to speak out against his policies from the back benches rather than being bound by collective responsibility like Ms Phillipson.

However in a possible olive branch, Sky News understands Ms Powell will be asked to attend political cabinet meetings, even though she will not officially be a member of cabinet.

Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said “weak Keir Starmer” has had an unwanted deputy leader “imposed on him by the Labour Party”, adding: “The failure of the Keir Starmer candidate, Bridget Philipson, is another defeat of the prime minister’s authority.”

Turnout for the vote was low – just 16.6%, suggesting a lack of enthusiasm among party members and its affiliates.

Sir Keir congratulated Ms Powell after the results were announced, saying she “has always been a proud defender of Labour values, and that is exactly what we need at this moment”.

He echoed some of her language around immigration, as he attacked the Tories for this week suggesting they supported a policy to deport people who have settled in the UK legally, something Reform UK has advocated.

“That is what we’re up against on the right of politics, a politics of division and grievance that wants to take this great country to a very dark place”, Sir Keir said.

PM warns of ‘battle for the soul of our nation’

The prime minister is under pressure as the party plummets in the polls, with many MPs on the left predicting he could be gone by May if the local elections go badly.

Sir Keir acknowledged Labour is having a difficult time after it lost the Caerphilly by-election to Plaid Cymru on Thursday.

He said it was a “bad result” and “a reminder that people need to look out their window and see change and renewal in their community, opportunities for their children, public services rebuilt, the cost of living crisis tackled”.

“We must unite. We must keep our focus on what is, in my view, the defining battle for the soul of our nation. I know that Lucy will do just that,” he said.

Saturday’s result is the culmination of a six week contest, with the pair having had to secure nominations from 80 MPs in the first round and then win the backing of 5% of local parties or Labour affiliated groups before making it to the final vote.

Initially six candidates entered, but it quickly became a two-horse race as only Ms Powell and Ms Phillipson reached the 80 threshold, following claims from the left of a “stitch up”.

Ms Phillipson said she was “disappointed to lose” but Ms Powell “has my full support”.

She added: “What we all need to do now is unite this party, beat Reform and secure that second term Labour government.”

The manhunt for a migrant who sexually assaulted a schoolgirl, and was released from prison in error, is ongoing.

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was jailed for 12 months earlier this year after he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping.

He had been staying in the Bell Hotel in Epping and his arrest triggered large-scale protests and disorder.

The Ethiopian national, who came to the UK on a small boat in the summer, is now being searched for by the police after he was accidentally freed on Friday.

Follow the latest updates on the manhunt

How many prisoners are released in error?

According to government statistics published in July, 262 prisoners were released in error in the 12 months to March 2025 – a 128% increase from 115 the previous year.

The report states: “Of the 262 releases in error, 233 of these releases in error occurred from prison establishments, while 29 were released in error at the courts.

“Releases in error from establishments could also be a result of errors by the court.”

This is out of a total prison population across England and Wales of roughly 86,000.

Sky News has contacted the HM Prison & Probation Service to know how many of the 262 prisoners have since been found and returned to custody.

In September 2024, Sky News reported how dozens of people released from jail under the government’s emergency prison scheme were freed by mistake.

The Labour government said it was forced to release hundreds of inmates early because prisons were at capacity.

Kebatu, who is thought to be in the London area, was due to be deported when he was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford on Friday.

Previous high-profile manhunts

William Fernandez, who was awaiting trial for sexual assault, was released from HMP Wormwood by error in March 2021. He then went on to rape a 16-year-old girl and sexually assault a young woman.

In December 2019, the prisons and probation service “apologised unreservedly” after serial rapist Joseph McCann was freed to commit a series of sex attacks on women and children.

In July 2017, an inmate who was released from prison just months into a nine-year sentence due to a “clerical error” was arrested after weeks on the run.

Experts are warning that without “fast changes” the UK could run out of drinking water in the future.

The first seven months of 2025 were the driest since 1976, with reservoirs across England only 56.1% full on average, according to the Environment Agency.

“I think that we do need to worry about the fact that there is this possibility we could run out,” Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology from Reading University, told Sky News.

“It’s only if we start thinking like that, that we’re going to start conserving our water, otherwise we just take it completely for granted.

“It is all of our fault, we have not been paying attention to what’s going on… we need some very fast changes to the way that we are using water and the way that we’re storing water in order to stop this being a problem in the future, because our summers are only going to get hotter.”

By 2050, the government says that England could face a shortfall of five billion litres of water every day.

‘Growing pressure’ on water system

A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson said: “This government recognises the growing pressure on our water system and is taking decisive action.

“We’re delivering over £104bn of private investment to fix leaking pipes, build nine new reservoirs and secure our water supply for the future.”

Latest figures suggest that around 2,690 megalitres of water is lost every day in England through leaks – the equivalent of 1,076 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

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‘We have invested an extra £10m’

“Leaks are a really important issue for us. We have invested an extra £10m just to deal with the weather that we’ve seen this summer,” said Dr Geoff Darch, head of strategic asset planning for Anglian Water.

Anglian Water is also hoping to build two new reservoirs in the East of England.

“We don’t want to stop people using water, it is absolutely essential for everything that we need it to do,” Dr Darch said.

“But I think we’ve got to a point now where we have to realise that water is a precious resource, it’s something that we all have to look after so that we have it for future generations and for the environment and with climate change and drought, we will need more reservoirs.”

Concerns about ‘whole system starting to collapse’

In August, the UK received just 62% of its average rainfall, according to the Met Office, which is leading a group of residents to monitor their water stocks closely.

“We collect all our own water from the rain, and so if we don’t have the rain that’s a significant issue,” explained Simon Tilly, director of the Hockerton eco housing project in Nottinghamshire.

He told Sky News they were working together to use less water.

“I suppose I’m most concerned about the whole system starting to collapse. There’s potential for longer droughts and us having a lot of water stress, there’s potential for a lot of floods when the drought finishes… and just generally that system going into random patterns where we’re getting more droughts and more floods,” he added.