Exclusive: Unions endorse education secretary as she vows to ensure measures are not watered down – ‘no ifs or buts’
Bridget Phillipson has vowed to protect the government’s employment rights bill from being watered down if elected deputy Labour leader.
The education secretary, who is widely seen as Downing Street’s pick for the role, said she would pick up the mantle Angela Rayner held as the “unions’ champion” of workers’ rights in Keir Starmer’s cabinet, and “personally grab the employment rights Angela long pushed for”.
Phillipson is facing her former cabinet colleague Lucy Powell in the contest to replace Rayner as deputy leader.
The biggest unions – Unison, GMB and Unite – are yet to publicly announce which candidate they will throw their weight behind but Phillipson’s campaign has been endorsed by the Musicians’ Union, the Community union and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
