Rt Hon Lucy Powell, MP for Manchester Central
Lucy Powell has been an MP since 2012. Currently: Secretary of State for Education.
Roles and committees
Posts held in government or opposition, and committee seats, as Parliament records them.
In government
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Secretary of State for Education (Department for Education) | 2026 to now | Now |
| Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Office of the Leader of the House of Commons) | 2024 to 2025 |
In opposition
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow Leader of the House of Commons (Office of the Leader of the House of Commons) | 2023 to 2024 | |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) | 2021 to 2023 | |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Housing (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) | 2021 | |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Housing (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) | 2021 | |
| Shadow Minister (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) (Department for Business and Trade) | 2020 to 2021 | |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Education (Department for Education) | 2015 to 2016 | |
| Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office (Cabinet Office) | 2014 to 2015 | |
| Shadow Minister (Education) (Department for Education) | 2013 to 2014 |
Committees
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Public Accounts Commission | 2024 to 2025 | |
| Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority | 2024 to 2025 | |
| Modernisation Committee | 2024 to 2025 | |
| Members Estimate Committee | 2024 to 2025 | |
| Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority | 2023 to 2024 | |
| Restoration and Renewal Client Board | 2023 to 2024 | |
| House of Commons Commission | 2023 to 2025 | |
| Members Estimate Committee | 2023 to 2024 |
Show the other 4
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Restoration and Renewal Programme Board | 2023 to 2025 | |
| Education Committee | 2020 | |
| Education Committee | 2017 to 2019 | |
| Transport Committee | 2012 to 2013 |
Source: UK Parliament Members API · Parliament’s own page
Declared interests
MPs must publish certain paid work, gifts, donations and other interests. This is a record of what they declared, not a suggestion that anything is wrong.
Lucy Powell has 13 interests currently registered.
| Type | What was registered | Registered |
|---|---|---|
| Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources | PRS for Music Limited - £858.00 | 25 Jun 2026 |
| Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources | The Football Association Ltd - £580.00 | 26 May 2026 |
| Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources | The Football League Ltd - £900.00 | 23 Mar 2026 |
| Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources | BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Ltd - £5,016.00 | 2 Mar 2026 |
| Donations and other support (including loans) for activities as an MP | Playscan Limited - £50,000.00 | 22 Jan 2026 |
| Donations and other support (including loans) for activities as an MP | Theodore Caplan - £5,000.00 | 28 Oct 2025 |
| Donations and other support (including loans) for activities as an MP | Small Axe Communications Ltd - £20,000.00 | 28 Oct 2025 |
| Donations and other support (including loans) for activities as an MP | Ivy Business Centre Ltd - £10,000.00 | 28 Oct 2025 |
| Donations and other support (including loans) for activities as an MP | Sean Wadsworth - £6,000.00 | 13 Oct 2025 |
| Donations and other support (including loans) for activities as an MP | Ecotricity Group Ltd - £15,000.00 | 10 Oct 2025 |
Show the other 3
| Type | What was registered | Registered |
|---|---|---|
| Donations and other support (including loans) for activities as an MP | Martin Taylor - £10,000.00 | 10 Oct 2025 |
| Land and property (within or outside the UK) | Residential in London | 4 Sep 2015 |
| Shareholdings | Shares in New Road Management | 13 Dec 2012 |
Source: Register of Members’ Financial Interests · Parliament’s own page
Questions
MPs can ask ministers questions in writing. The questions show what an MP is working on, which votes cannot.
Lucy Powell has not asked any written questions in the last 12 months. Government ministers cannot ask them, so this can simply reflect an MP’s role.
Source: Written Questions API · Updated 4 Oct 2026
Expenses
MPs claim back money for running an office and working in two places. An independent body, IPSA, publishes every claim. This is what was paid in 2025-26.
40 claims. For comparison, across the 657 MPs in IPSA’s file the middle MP was paid £18,469 and the average was £19,699.
Source: IPSA, individual business costs data · About this data
Election result and area
Lucy Powell represents Manchester Central. Here is who won there at the last general election, and a few numbers about the area.
Labour
votes ahead of second place
of people who could vote did
Lucy Powell won with 51% of the votes, and Ekua Bayunu (Green Party) came second with 16%.
Votes for each party
Every candidate
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucy Powell | Labour | 20,184 | 50.8% |
| Ekua Bayunu | Green Party | 6,387 | 16.1% |
| David Brown | Reform UK | 4,760 | 12.0% |
| Chris Northwood | Liberal Democrat | 3,051 | 7.7% |
| Scott Smith | Conservative | 2,823 | 7.1% |
| Parham Hashemi | Workers Party of Britain | 1,888 | 4.8% |
| Sebastian Moore | Social Democratic Party | 240 | 0.6% |
| Sabeena Khan | Independent | 202 | 0.5% |
| Caitriona Rylance | Communist Future | 131 | 0.3% |
| Albati Kalonda | Independent | 59 | 0.1% |
2024 General Election, on today’s boundaries. Source: House of Commons Library via the Members API.
Your area at a glance
Median gross weekly pay, 2025. Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
Share of people aged 16 to 64, August 2026. Source: ONS and DWP claimant count.
How they vote
In the last 12 months Lucy Powell took part in 131 Commons votes.
More detail on how they vote
Lucy Powell voted the same way as their party in 129 of the 129 votes where parties gave instructions (100%), and went the other way in 0.
What does this mean?
Parties tell their MPs how to vote. Most MPs usually follow that. A high or low count says nothing on its own about whether an MP is good or bad, and we do not rank MPs by it. We only count votes where parties gave instructions, not free votes. How we count it
Recent votes
| Date | Vote | They voted | Compared with party |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Sep | End of life for terminally ill adults: the first main vote | For | Free vote |
| 11 Sep | A vote to end a debate | For | Free vote |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
See every vote on Parliament’s site
Has this changed over time?
View data table
| Month | This MP | Party average |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Nov 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Dec 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Jan 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Feb 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Mar 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Apr 26 | 100% | 100% |
| May 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jun 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jul 26 | 100% | 99% |
| Sep 26 | 100% | 100% |
Source: Commons Votes API
This page states what the record shows. It does not say why an MP voted as they did. How we calculate this