Labour deputy leadership candidate Lucy Powell has pledged to bring a ‘strong Northern voice’ to the top of the party if she wins later this month.

Voting is currently underway in the race to replace Angela Rayner, with polls placing the former Leader of the House of Commons as the frontrunner over Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.

Powell has made appearances at events across the country to rally support for her campaign, including at a canvassing session in Crookes, Sheffield, alongside local MPs Louise Haigh and Olivia Blake.

She told 36wire: “I know I’m from the other side of the Pennines from here, but I think it’s really, really important that we’ve got a strong Northern voice at the top of the party because otherwise things do get a bit London-centric.

“The big pitch that I’ve got as deputy leader is that I want to make sure we are really connected to the communities that we’re here to serve through our members, through our movement.

“I think when you have a narrower and narrower group of people making all the decisions who are not connected to our communities, that’s where wrong turns are made.

“I’m just going to be here as the voice for the members.”

Describing the role of deputy leader as a ‘full-time job’, Powell made it clear that she still believes in the party’s vision but added that a different strategy is needed to win back support from voters.

“I’m very, very committed to making sure that we tell a much stronger story about what the purpose of this Labour government is.

“I think we’ve let the agenda be set too much by others over recent months and we’ve ended up reacting to what’s happening, rather than setting the agenda ourselves.

“We’re in government; we really should be setting the agenda and telling a much stronger story about what we think is really wrong with the country and how we’re going to go about fixing it.

“And for me, that starts with fairness and tackling the deep-seated inequalities in our regions and in our economy and in education and class and everything else.”

The election is viewed by some as a referendum of members’ views on Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership after a series of policy U-turns, scandals and sinking poll ratings.

Widely seen as No 10’s preferred candidate, Phillipson has received backing from the largest amount of Labour MPs, as well as several major unions like GMB and Unison.

However, she lags behind Powell in the number of constituency party nominations.

In her own pitch to members, she has called for party unity and emphasised her journey from a council house in the North East to the Cabinet table.

Rayner resigned as deputy leader, Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary in September when it was revealed she had underpaid £40,000 of stamp duty on a flat in Hove she bought this earlier year.

Electronic voting for Labour members and affiliated supporters began last Wednesday and closes on 23 October, with the winner being announced on 25 October.