Key facts
- Labour must reunite the progressive voter coalition to win the next election, according to Deputy Leader Lucy Powell.
- Powell stated that the party has a chance to capitalize on divisions on the right.
- She believes Labour has not always been seen as the best chance to defeat right-wing politics.
- Powell will announce an expansion of anti-harassment work in schools.
- Schools will be required to embed healthy relationships and belonging into every part of school life.
- Labour will talk more boldly about choices like workers' rights and free childcare hours.
Labour must "reunite the progressive voter coalition" to win the next election, according to Deputy Leader Lucy Powell. Speaking to The Guardian, Powell said the party had a second chance to take advantage of a split on the right and that clear communication of values was essential for success. She noted that Labour had become "too technical and pessimistic" and required a "change of leader" to revive its fortunes.
Powell stated that the party had not always been seen as the best chance to defeat right-wing politics, and that sentiment had not all come to Labour due to a fragmented progressive coalition. She believes Labour can reunite this alliance and that there are "red shoots of hope" emerging.
Ahead of her conference speech, Powell announced an expansion of anti-harassment work in schools, calling for schools to embed healthy relationships and belonging into every part of school life, not just RSHE lessons. She argued that schools cannot "just teach our way out of misogyny" and that a wider culture shift is needed.
Powell also indicated that Labour is "on the front foot" and will talk more boldly about choices like workers' rights and free childcare hours, stating, "Let's not be embarrassed about that, that's what we are." She suggested that under Burnham, Labour's values would be clear, contrasting this with past missteps on issues like welfare.
Powell declined to agree directly with Chancellor John Healey that Burnham's government was offering "continuity," stating that while they are on the same manifesto, "people want change." She also expressed a desire to use the social media ban for under-16s as an opportunity to help young people build real-life communities to replace the online world.