TL;DR: In a tumultuous week for Labour, Education Secretary and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson has become the lead candidate to replace Angela Rayner as deputy leader. With party leadership facing multiple scandals, the timeline for implementing the Equality Watchdogâs new code of practice - billed as the next step in segregation of Trans+ people - is unclear.
The Equalities Minister and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has become the leading candidate to be the Labour partyâs next deputy leader - BBC
Itâs just one of a raft of political changes and scandals that have rocked the party in the week since Phillipson received the Equality Watchdogâs draft new code of practice, widely expected to recommend policies to further segregate Trans+ people, last Friday - QueerAF
The deputy leader role has been left vacant after Angela Rayner, who was also deputy Prime Minister, resigned following a tax scandal. Her departure triggered a second cabinet reshuffle in as many weeks - Sky
Shortly afterwards, Keir Starmerâs week was made even more difficult by a second scandal. US Ambassador and long-time Labour grandee Peter Mandelson was fired after new information about his former connections to infamous child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein came to light this week - just ahead of a state visit to the UK by Donald Trump, who is also embroiled in the same scandal - CNN
What are the outcomes of the reshuffle?
David Lammy has taken over as deputy PM from Rayner by appointment, while the separate role of deputy Labour leader is decided by election.
Before Phillipson emerged as the party leadershipâs preferred candidate for deputy leader, her brief as Education Secretary was shrunk slightly with the formation of a new âsuper ministryâ under Patrick McFadden, which combines the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) with the Skills remit that was previously part of Phillipsonâs brief.
Phillipson remains Minister for Women and Equalities, but she has a new undersecretary: Olivia Bailey MP, who received her first significant government appointment. She sits on the All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV, AIDS and Sexual Health, but beyond that her attitude on LGBTQIA+ issues is not yet clear - TheyWorkForYou
The other headline from the reshuffle was the appointment of Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary. Mahmood was reported to have repeated transphobic dogwhistles in a speech in May, stating her agreement with JK Rowling that âbiological sex is real and immutableâ - Telegraph
What happens next?
Phillipson is one of two candidates who were able to receive the required backing of 80 MPs by Thursday night, clearing the first hurdle towards becoming deputy leader. The other candidate is Lucy Powell MP, who crossed the threshold for MPsâ support in the last 24 hours before the deadline.
Powellâs growing support is being seen as a sign of opposition to Starmer among Labour MPs after Powell was removed from her position as Leader of the Commons just last week, reportedly as a result of her âstanding upâ to party leadership - Independent
Phillipson and Powell must next win the backing of 5% of local Labour parties, or three Labour-affiliated groups (such as trade unions). If they both do so, Labour members will be balloted on who should become deputy leader, beginning 8th October - BBC
Analysis: What does this mean for LGBTQIA+ lives?
On Tuesday, in the midst of the reshuffle, Phillipson delivered a speech at the Trade Union Congress annual conference. The speech focused almost entirely on skills - the area of her remit that has just been reassigned to a different Minister - with very little mention of equalities issues and none at all of LGBTQIA+ issues - GOV.UK
The widely-discredited Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) delivered its draft new code of practice, which builds on the Supreme Courtâs contested ruling about the definition of âwomanâ in the Equality Act, to Phillipson last Friday. We were expecting to hear more about the timeline for its progress this week.
But between that speech, the other scandals rocking her party, and spinning up her campaign for deputy leader, it seems that the approval of new policy about single sex spaces is not going to be the Equalities Ministerâs highest priority for a while.
The draft code of practice will not be made public until the Minister decides to put it before parliament, at which point there will be 40 days for MPs to discuss and dispute it before it passes into law. The EHRC confirmed in FOI responses this week that it will not be releasing its report on the controversial consultation it conducted around the new code until after that process is complete - which could take months - TransActual
Itâs too early to tell what the concrete consequences of these changes in Labour leadership will be in the ongoing struggle around Trans+ peopleâs rights. Phillipson may well be shuffled out of the Equalities Ministry within a month, depending on the outcome of the election.
One thing seems clear though: Labour leadership are going to be focused on politics ahead of policy for a few weeks at least. The LGBTQIA+ movement can use that breathing time to regroup and prepare to challenge whatever the new EHRC code of practice brings.
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