Labour deputy contender Lucy Powell calls for culture change at No 10

Ex-Commons leader says she wants Downing Street to be better connected to MPs and that she would deliver difficult truths to PM

• Phillipson and Powell confirmed as final contenders in Labour deputy race

Lucy Powell has called for a “change of culture” inside Keir Starmer’s Downing Street to make it more inclusive and better connected to MPs, promising that as Labour’s deputy leader she would when needed deliver difficult truths to the prime minister.

Speaking to the Guardian after she secured 117 MP nominations in the battle to replace Angela Rayner, Powell said a sequence of what she called “unforced errors” by the government had left many Labour MPs and members frustrated.