Bridget Phillipson issues Labour warning as she prepares campaign launch

Bridget Phillipson has warned Labour divided parties don't win elections amid mounting discontent among MPs.

The Education Secretary, who is running to replace Angela Rayner as deputy leader, says she wants to "unite" the party and take the fight to Reform UK. She also promises to give party members a "strong voice" at the Cabinet table.

Ms Phillipson is running against Lucy Powell, who was recently sacked from Keir Starmer's Cabinet, in the two-horse race to be Labour's next deputy leader. Writing for The Mirror today, Ms Phillipson says: "The path to victory runs through all of our regions and nations, towns and cities, countryside and coastlines.

"But we won’t if we’re not united. Divided parties don’t win elections. We cannot afford to hand Nigel Farage and Reform a crucial advantage with elections in Scotland, Wales and local elections right around the corner."

READ MORE: BRIDGET PHILLIPSON: 'Divided parties don’t win elections - we can't afford to hand Farage advantage'

Vowing to keep up Ms Rayner's "campaigning role" as deputy leader, she added: "We cannot afford to go back to the days of a divided Labour Party, to re-open old wounds. Labour Members want hope for the future, not grievance and division. We won the last General Election because we came together to show the country a different vision of the future.

"We must come together again because, make no mistake, the alternative is the same disunity that mired us in Opposition for fourteen long years. We must not hand the advantage to parties that offer neither change nor hope. Our country cannot afford that."

Ms Phillipson's comments come as she prepares to launch her campaign for deputy leader and as frustration grows among Labour MPs over a series of government missteps and the handling of Peter Mandelson's sacking as Ambassador to Washington.

On Saturday it was reported No10 officials were made aware of emails between Lord Mandelson and billionaire predator Jeffrey Esptein on Tuesday. This was before Mr Starmer defended the embattled Labour peer at PMQs. The PM is said not to have been made aware of the contents of the emails until Wednesday evening and dismissed Lord Mandelson the following morning.

Backbench Labour MP, Olivia Blake, told the BBC on Saturday it was "really embarrassing" the PM was not told about Esptein emails soon enough. She also suggested the No10 operation had "gone into the bunker".

She added: "We saw through the welfare reforms that they did the same again. They didn't tell Keir, they didn't tell the Prime Minister how bad it was on the back benches."

Ms Powell, who is running to replace Ms Rayner, warned over the weekend there must be a "change of culture" inside Downing Street. She said: “We need some change, and we do need a change of culture, especially how we’re going about making decisions, and how we’re going about including people."

And there were reports Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, was laying the groundwork for a leadership bid if Mr Starmer fails. But a close ally of Mr Burnham dismissed the claims, telling The Mirror: "It's pure speculation with no substance".

Writing for The Mirror today, the Labour veteran and former deputy leader Harriet Harman warned the contest to replace Ms Rayner must not become a "proxy fight" between the PM and Mr Burnham.

She said: "Bridget is in the Cabinet and Lucy is backed by Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. But this contest should not be a proxy fight between two men, Andy and Keir. It is between two women, both of whom are dynamic and inspiring. This time it’s not about the men. Let the best woman win!"

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