Labour deputy leader contender called out for ‘political opportunism’

On Wednesday 17 September, Labour deputy leader contender Lucy Powell met with the ambassador of Palestine to “commemorate the recognition of Palestine”. Since then, several people have accused her of hypocrisy:

This is one of the most blatant displays of political opportunism I’ve ever seen. Powell has long been a member of Labour Friends of Israel. She voted against a ceasefire in November 2023 when it was clear to many that something out of the ordinary was taking place in Gaza. A… https://t.co/e59RgbKJb8

— MikeD (@mjdaly57) September 18, 2025

‘Political opportunism’

The media have described Powell as a ‘proxy’ for Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor who’s rumoured to be planning a run at the Labour leadership. Rejecting those claims, Powell has said:

It’s just Westminster bubble obsession that, isn’t it?

Really, you’ve got two strong women in an open and transparent contest. And instead of talking about the two strong women, everybody’s talking about this being a sort of proxy for war between two men, which, quite honestly, I find kind of sexist.

The above post criticising Powell reads in full:

This is one of the most blatant displays of political opportunism I’ve ever seen. Powell has long been a member of Labour Friends of Israel. She voted against a ceasefire in November 2023 when it was clear to many that something out of the ordinary was taking place in Gaza. A committed Zionist and Blairite, Powell has worked for years to thwart justice for the Palestinian people. She’s only doing this to boost her chances of becoming Deputy Leader of The Labour Party.

Powell also posted this on 17 September:

Speaking to Nick Robinson for Political Thinking on Today on why I’m standing to be a full time Deputy Leader – being clear about whose side we are on, being a bridge between the movement & leadership, lifting the 2-child limit, the atrocities in Gaza and telling a unifying story pic.twitter.com/yN9AKluLHy

— Lucy Powell MP (@LucyMPowell) September 17, 2025

In response, people once again highlighted her record:

“the atrocities in Gaza”

This clip is from November 7th 2023, when Powell couldn’t even bring even bring herself to say people should be allowed to march to call for a ceasefire. Several days later she abstained in the vote for one.pic.twitter.com/6z4TlTRLV4 https://t.co/ZNGPId3ZjV

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) September 17, 2025

Several people drew attention to Powell’s voting record as summarised by the MP War Crimes website:

Powell is facing off against Bridget Phillipson in the deputy leader race. Phillipson’s MP War Crimes summary is actually worse than Powell’s, because she’s flagged as ‘abstained or absent’ for the vote on ‘Making BDS Illegal for Public Bodies’.

BDS is the ‘Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions’ movement, which seeks to peacefully “end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians”.

Powell has received other criticism too:

Don’t forget folks.
Lucy Powell is the same person who knowingly lied with a straight face when she said our economy would have crashed if they hadn’t cut the pensioners winter fuel allowance. pic.twitter.com/WMmDkjF9T5

— Cold957 (@cold957) May 4, 2025

Govt minister Lucy Powell says the UK economy would have crashed & there would have been a run on the pound if the universal winter fuel allowance for pensioners wasn’t scrapped.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson is asked if that’s correct. pic.twitter.com/9YZktpRaDp

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) September 2, 2024

Labour Friends of Israel

Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) claims that it:

supports a negotiated two-state solution for two peoples; with a safe and secure Israel, alongside a viable and independent Palestinian state.

Keir Starmer is listed as a Parliamentary Supporter of LFI, and yet his government did not announce an intention to recognise Palestinian statehood until political pressure grew following the announcement of an Israeli-caused famine in Gaza.

Other front bench MPs listed under LFI’s Parliamentary Supporters include:

• David Lammy.
• Yvette Cooper.
• Darren Jones.
• Wes Streeting.
• Bridget Phillipson.
• Liz Kendall.
• Hilary Benn.

In June 2024, Declassified UK reported:

Some 180 of Britain’s 650 MPs in the last parliament accepted funding from pro-Israel lobby groups or individuals during their political career, Declassified can reveal.

That includes 130 Conservative MPs, 41 Labour MPs and three Liberal Democrats.

Three members of the DUP, two independents and Reform’s only MP complete the list.

The total value of the donations from pro-Israel groups, individuals, and Israeli state institutions amounts to over one million pounds.

Between them, the politicians made over 240 paid-for trips to Israel, at a cost of over half a million pounds.

Some of those trips involved visits to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and a small number were co-sponsored by groups which do not form part of the Israel lobby.

Remarkably, fifteen MPs have accepted funding to travel to Israel amid the Gaza genocide.

Declassified UK have also published a list of MPs who received funding from Israel, and this list is complete with figures.

In 2017, Al Jazeera released a four-part documentary series titled The Lobby which “chronicles an attempt by Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs to use covert influence techniques to undermine international support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement”.

Featured image via David Woolfall (Wikimedia) / United Nations (Flickr)