British Labour Party elects deputy leader

LONDON -- Britain's Labour Party elected Lucy Powell as its deputy leader on Saturday, in a move triggered by the resignation of Angela Rayner in early September, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said.

The polling showed Powell won with 87,407 votes, over 13,000 more than her opponent, Bridget Phillipson, who is Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities. During the ballot, 16.6 percent of Labour Party members turned out for the voting, which ended on Thursday.

Powell is the Member of Parliament for Manchester and was previously the Lord President of the Council and leader of the House of Commons after Labour Party won last year's general election. She was removed from the cabinet position during a reshuffle last month.

While campaigning for the position of party deputy leader, Powell vowed to stand against the politics of "division and hate," noting the Labour Party "needs to do better" as the future existence of mainstream politics wobbles.