Why Labour's deputy leadership race could be a verdict on Keir Starmer

Powell, by contrast, argues for a fairer set of policies to solve the NHS crisis, tackling mental health provision and flashpoints like the abuse culture behind a lot of the stories about being a minister at the top of the party.

Despite being outside the cabinet, Powell has told members she would argue for more power for the Labour leader, saying that she would take members with her on her journey, rather than putting the leader-second in a new straitjacket of bureaucracy.

Above all, insiders argue, she, like Phillipson, would be well-prepared to take a message out to voters and sharpen up the party’s game if ministers think they have a small window of opportunity.

Ultimately, the party and the voters will choose between two big voices and to do so in the next few weeks. The by-election is expected to be held in the spring.

The party will find a way to make it work, insiders believe – but only if the leadership understands the feelings of members.

There is no question that a clear successor has emerged from the two contenders, because even Angela Rayner couldn’t be sure what she was actually there for.

When she quit, her one-time rival for the job, Rachel Reeves, was ready to take her place but was blocked by a damning report on how money was wasted during an unpopular refurb of buildings in Kings Place, London.

Now that Itani Smith, Reeves’ campaign manager from the last time, says the deputy leadership would be better without a role in the cabinet.

There are plenty of talented party figures, he argues, who would serve the party from their current platforms as much as from a new job.

Itani Smith’s position is a contentious one in a debate that needs to be held on not just who, but why and how the deputy should be anodyne, loyal, or blisteringly outspoken – and what the next phase of the party looks like.