Health secretary urges party to take Caerphilly result to heart as Lucy Powell gets to work as deputy leader
Senior Labour figures including Wes Streeting have said the government must project optimism and delivery after losing a Welsh Senedd byelection amid rising concern about midterm fatigue and a loss of momentum.
The health secretary warned that the party must counter a “growing sense of despair” and show voters tangible proof of change after its defeat last week in Caerphilly, a town that had been Labour for more than 100 years.
Streeting’s intervention comes as Labour’s new deputy leader, Lucy Powell, begins her first week in the role. Powell has promised to give members a stronger voice inside government after a low-turnout contest that followed the departure of Angela Rayner.
Powell said the government must listen to its members instead of being guided by a “narrow group of voices” as it battles to stave off electoral disaster in next May’s local elections.
