Lucy Powell has been appointed secretary of state for education by new prime minister Andy Burnham as he forms his first cabinet. Taking over from former education secretary Bridget Phillipson, Powell is the tenth person to hold the role in 10 years. As we await details of how Burnham’s government will approach education policy, here’s what we know about the minister who will deliver it… 1. She’s Mancunian She was born and raised in Manchester. A Labour Party bio says she is a “proud Mancunian” whose politics “were shaped growing up in the North under Thatcher”. 2. She’s from a family of teachers Powell’s mother was a headteacher. “I’m from a family of teachers,” Powell told Schools Week in 2015. “Practically everyone in my family is a teacher, apart from my dad, who is a social worker.” Her parents were also active Labour supporters, and she joined the party at just 15. “My mother went into labour on election day and refused to have me until she’d voted,” she told an interview with Vogue in January. “We are a very Labour family.” 3. Powell is state educated Born in Moss Side in 1974, she attended Didsbury state schools Beaver Road Primary School, and Parrs Wood High School. She studied A-levels at Xaverian College, a large Roman Catholic sixth form in central Manchester. She excelled academically, taking maths, further maths, physics and chemistry A-level. She was singled out by a teacher who encouraged her to apply for Oxbridge, and was reportedly the only pupil in her year to get an offer from Oxford. 4. She left Oxford after a year Powell cried when she found out she’d secured a place to study chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford. “I didn’t want to go at all,” she told GB News in 2021. “But what do you do? You’ve got an offer at Oxford, and everyone’s like ‘oh that’s amazing, that’s great’, so you’re on this treadmill.” Once there however, she felt “like a fish out of water” and left after her first year. “I was a state-educated, northern girl doing science. I couldn’t have been more a fish out of water, really. “I’m sort of glad I went to see how the other half live in a way, but I didn’t thrive there at all.” She transferred to King’s College London, where she completed her degree. 5. She spent time outside of politics Powell reportedly considered a PhD but instead went into politics. After leaving university, she worked at Labour’s Millbank headquarters during its triumphant 1997 general election campaign, before spending two years working for MP Beverley Hughes. She went on to spend the best part of a decade in public affairs, PR and campaigning roles at the Britain in Europe group and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta). 6. She’s been an MP since 2012 Powell first ran at the 2010 general election as Labour candidate for Manchester Withington, but came second to incumbent Lib Dem MP John Leech. She was elected as Labour MP for Manchester Central in a by-election in 2012 – a role she has held ever since. She joined the opposition frontbench, holding roles as shadow childcare and early years minister, and later shadow minister for the cabinet office under Ed Miliband. In 2015, Miliband made her vice-chair of the 2015 UK general election campaign. It would be one of Labour’s heaviest defeats in decades. Powell later described it as “crushing and gutting”. 7. She backed Burnham as leader a decade ago In the 2015 Labour Party leadership election, she nominated Andy Burnham in his second attempt at the job. But he was beaten by Jeremy Corbyn. Powell has been a staunch advocate of Burnham and has praised his record as Greater Manchester mayor. 8. She was shadow education secretary Powell has experience with the education brief. Corbyn appointed her shadow education secretary in September 2015, replacing Tristram Hunt, who had served under Miliband. During her tenure, she called for free schools and academies to be brought under the overrsight of local authorities and said she would “fiercely contest” any move to revive grammar schools. She resigned from this role in June 2016, along with many other shadow cabinet members, to oppose Corbyn’s leadership. 9. Powell beat Phillipson in deputy leader race Powell was appointed Leader of the House of Commons in July 2024, when Keir Starmer formed his first cabinet. She was dismissed in September 2025. But a month later, in October 2025, she beat Bridget Phillipson in the race to become deputy leader of the Labour Party, following the resignation of Angela Rayner (her friend, and fellow Manchester MP). Powell secured 87,407 votes – almost 14,000 more than Phillipson. 10. She loves Glasto She lives with her two children, Katie and Tom, and adult stepson Joe, according to her interview with Vogue. Her children attend the same state school she did. Her husband James Williamson is a doctor who works in emergency medicine. They have been married since 2009. Her Vogue interview also revealed she’s been to Glastonbury 23 times.