She joined the pro-Euro and pro-EU Treaty pressure group Britain in Europe (BiE), originally in a public relations role and later as head of regional campaigning. She replaced Simon Buckby as Campaign Director of BiE. In this capacity, she worked with Chris Patten, Neil Kinnock, Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander.[8]
After BiE was wound down in June 2005 because of the referendum "No" votes in France and the Netherlands, she worked for the non-departmental public body or quango NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), initially in a public affairs role and later to establish and manage the Manchester Innovation Fund project.
Powell was elected as MP for Manchester Central at the 2012 Manchester Central by-election, winning the election with 69.1% of the vote and a majority of 9,936 votes.[11]
Powell first joined the opposition front-bench in October 2013 as Shadow Childcare and Early Years Minister,[12] and entered the Shadow Cabinet in November 2014 as Shadow Cabinet Office Minister.
Powell was appointed vice-chair of the 2015 general election campaign by Ed Miliband,[13] in which Labour suffered a net loss of 26 seats, including a net loss of 40 seats in Scotland.[14][15] She was heavily criticised for apparently suggesting that Labour's election pledges were liable to be broken: in talking about the EdStone, she commented: "I don't think anyone is suggesting that the fact that he's carved them into stone means that he is absolutely not going to break them or anything like that." She said that she had been quoted out of context.[16] She was responsible for Ed Miliband's interview with Russell Brand, described as a PR blunder.[17] As a result of these actions coupled to the result, Tanya Gold, writing for The Sunday Times, described her as "discredited".[18] In response to the result, Powell stated, "I bear my share of responsibility in this".[19]
At the snap 2017 general election, Powell was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 77.4% and an increased majority of 31,445.[28]
In September 2017, the political commentator Iain Dale placed Powell at Number 81 in The 100 Most Influential People on the Left.[29]
In September 2018, Powell introduced legislation in the House of Commons to ban secret, private, invite-only groups on Facebook and hold moderators legally responsible for hate speech or defamation on forums.[30][31] She is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[32]
At the 2019 general election, Powell was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 70.4% and a decreased majority of 29,089.[33]
On 9 April 2020, Powell rejoined the Labour front bench when she was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Business and Consumers by new party leader Keir Starmer.[34] In a minor reshuffle in May 2021, she was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as the Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, succeeding Thangam Debbonaire.[35]
^Patrick Wintour, chief political correspondent (24 September 2004). "Kinnock joins Europe campaign". The Guardian. London, UK. Archived from the original on 28 August 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
^Gold, Tanya (31 May 2015). "It's all about the Brand". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on 6 August 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015. (subscription required)