Lucy Powell delivers message to Keir Starmer Labour leadership critics - 'put a sock in it' - The Mirror

In an interview with The Mirror, the party's deputy leader Lucy Powell said she believed the polls will tighten - but the party must be up for the fight in 2026

Lucy Powell has warned those giving oxygen to speculation about Keir Starmer's leadership to "put a sock in it" as Labour faces critical elections in May.

In an interview with The Mirror, the party's deputy leader said she believed the polls will tighten - but the party must be up for the fight in 2026. Her comments come as Labour braces for a potentially bruising set of votes across England, Scotland, and Wales in just over four months time. Some Labour MPs are even privately whispering about Mr Starmer's future in No10 if the May elections prove to be a disaster for the party.

But Ms Powell warned against "navel gazing" when pressed on colleagues discussing the Prime Minister's position in Downing Street. She told The Mirror: "I'm not getting into that because my focus is on making sure we do what we need to do, to do better than we are currently projected to do in May.

"What is at stake is huge and I think if we spend the next four or five months navel gazing, talking amongst ourselves about hypothetical situations in the future, or what people in an ideal world would ideally like and all of that, what we are doing is bringing all the focus onto the Westminster soap opera and not on the actual choices people face in May next year.

"That responsibility rests with us as MPs, as leaders, here in Westminster to do that. There's plenty of people out there seemingly giving these things some oxygen, I don't want to give that any more oxygen because there are actual things at stake here."

Asked whether those giving the subject oxygen should put a sock in it, she replied: "I think absolutely put a sock in it."

Labour's deputy leader said the May elections in many areas are "a clear choice between Labour and getting a Reform council, or Labour and getting Reform having a foothold in Wales."

She added: "This is not just some sort of temperature test on the kind of Westminster bubble. This will have real-life impacts for services, for local areas, and for Scotland and Wales. I actually think as voters focus on that a bit more, rather than just necessarily asked the question about how they feel about Labour right now, I think the polls will tighten a bit.

"But we've got to be up for that fight, it's not going to fall into our laps at all, and there's a lot at stake."

Ms Powell, who was sacked from Cabinet in Mr Starmer's September reshuffle, won the race to succeed Angela Rayner as Deputy Leader back in October. She described the abrupt departure of Ms Rayner from Cabinet as a "huge, huge loss".

Mr Starmer has in recent weeks hinted Ms Rayner, who resigned over unpaid stamp duty on a seaside home, will make a return to the top of government. Ms Powell told The Mirror: "Of course we'd all love to see Angela back - there's no question about that. But that's a matter for her and for Keir. But she's not gone anywhere, she's not going anywhere, she's still contributing, she's still fighting, she's still out there doing things and making a difference and having an impact. More power to her elbow in doing that."

Unlike previous deputy leaders at times when Labour is in power - including the late John Prescott - Ms Powell is not a member of the government. But she is expected to attend a political Cabinet - held without civil servants to discuss Labour's election strategy - early in the New Year with the PM's top team.

She has been honest about the "big mistakes" of 2025, including the winter fuel payments cut for millions of pensioners and the botched welfare cuts. It led to her warning in her October victory speech that Labour needs to show a stronger sense of purpose and demonstrate more clearly whose side the party is on.

Asked whether there was any progress on this, Ms Powell told The Mirror: "I do. You can point to the progress on that. Obviously we've still got further to go for people to see and hear that and that's something that takes time. We've got to power through with that. But if you look at our Budget - I think our Budget was very unashamedly a Labour Budget. I don't think anyone can argue with that."

Referring to Rachel Reeves's move to axe the cruel two-child benefit limit, she said: "It gave a clear sense of whose side we are on and that we are prepared to make some choices there, particularly around how important it is to lift children out of poverty - the long-term benefits."

Pressed on what Labour needs to do in 2026 to win back voters, Ms Powell went on: "I think we need to be laser focused on telling that story about how we are addressing the cost of living crisis and the inequalities in our economy and how our economy hasn't served people - ordinary working people right around the country.

"It hasn't served them well for 10, probably 15, maybe 20 years because those with assets and wealth have always done OK but ordinary families' lives just got harder and harder. And we are fixing that. We've just got to be really laser focused on that."