As most of you will have realised long ago, and will undoubtedly have understood by 4:30 pm yesterday, I am probably not the brightest when it comes to interpreting numbers. That is, after all, essentially a summary of everything involved in selecting a horse to win a race. Thus, having punted our Bridget, I did have a small interest in the outcome, but was entirely nonplussed by the result.
The summary press release from Labour HQ announcing the Labour Party Deputy Leadership Result stated that Lucy Powell received 87,407 votes (54%) and Bridget Phillipson received 73,536 votes (46%). We also know that only 16.6% of those eligible took part in the ballot… WHOA I thought… 16.6%?
We know surely that, as of August 2025, the Labour Party had 333,235 members. We know this because Reform has been chasing the numbers. And 16.6% of the membership would be just over 55k votes. So, where did these other votes come from?
Astonishingly, (not), the Labour Party also has affiliate members: the 11 Trade Unions that have aligned themselves with Labour and the 20+ Socialist Societies that have done likewise. That brings the number of eligible voters entitled to select a future incompetent with no commercial experience and little common sense, but who is long on cant and self-belief, to 970,642.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Boyd's Own Paper to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.