𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Lucy Powell has found herself at the centre of an awkward online row after Tory rivals mercilessly mocked her over a grammatical blunder in a social media post celebrating her appointment as Education Secretary. The senior Labour politician took to X (formerly Twitter) to share her excitement over her new Cabinet role, writing a message to constituents and colleagues about her vision for the nation’s schools and young people.

However, sharp-eyed Tory critics quickly spotted a glaring grammatical error in her celebratory post – and wasted no time in seizing the opportunity to poke fun at the new minister tasked with overseeing standards in Britain’s classrooms.

Announcing the news on X, Ms Powell wrote: “Absolutely thrilled the [sic] be appointed Education Secretary. For me there’s no more important job for any government than making sure young people have the best education, the best opportunities and the best future they can. Lots to do and I look forward to getting started.”

Treating the cabinet minister like a struggling schoolchild, the Tories posted a screenshot of her tweet, heavily annotated in bright red ink. At the bottom of the post, they slapped her with a harsh “3/10” mark, scrawling in the margin: “See me after class!”

Labour was swift to turn the tables on its political rivals, firing back by pointing out mistakes the Conservatives had made in a different release.

“They spelled ‘Labour’s’ and ‘Britain’ incorrectly,” they wrote.

They added: “The Tories might want to learn how to spell our country correctly before they start embarrassing themselves.”

Lucy Powell previously served as Leader of the House of Commons from July 2024 to September 2025. After taking on the role of Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under Sir Keir Starmer in late 2025, she was appointed by Andy Burnham as Secretary of State for Education on July 20, 2026, succeeding Bridget Phillipson.