She has defended the move

17:11, 22 Oct 2025Updated 20:42, 22 Oct 2025

Lucy Powell has been MP for Manchester Central since 2012, and is the favourite to become the party’s deputy leader (Image: Manchester Evening News)

A Manchester MP has issued a statement following reports she urged the government to re-consider legal action against a property developer who donated to Labour.

Lucy Powell, MP for Manchester Central, wrote to then-deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner late last year on behalf of Tom Bloxham, chair of Mancunian property developers Urban Splash.

Mr Bloxham donated £8,807 to the Labour Party in 2020, The Guardian reports.

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In the letter, the MP said Mr Bloxham ‘makes some very good points’ in another letter he wrote, which she passed to Ms Rayner. Mr Bloxham argued in writing pursuing legal action to force Urban Splash to effectively pay £49m to replace dangerous cladding on buildings it constructed could put the company out of business.

Now, a spokesperson for Ms Powell has defended the move.

They said in a statement: “In her capacity as a constituency MP Lucy has made many, many representations to the Government and to relevant agencies over many years about difficult cladding issues on behalf of leaseholders and met with many of those involved including residents, freeholders and developers.

Tom Bloxham, chair of Urban Splash, has other roles in Manchester – he is the figureheads of the new ‘Cyan Lines’ project(Image: PA)

“In that capacity in mid November, Lucy met with Urban Splash for a constituency surgery meeting in Manchester where they raised the difficulties they were facing.

“She asked for further details in writing so that she could make a representation on their behalf as their constituency MP which she then did in the usual way transparently and openly. She was clear in all correspondence that developers should pay their fair share of remediation costs.”

Urban Splash developed much of Ancoats and New Islington, including Stubbs Mill (centre) and The Chips (right) (Image: Manchester Evening News)

Sources close to the MP added that she had no idea Mr Bloxham donated to the Labour Party four years previously, although she was aware Mr Bloxham had clubbed together with other local business leaders to fund prizes for her annual Christmas card competition, worth ‘£200 to £300’.

Sources added that she met the property magnate at a networking event in early December 2024 by chance, weeks after Urban Splash already raised its concerns about the legal action.

Ms Powell later sent the letter to the former deputy Prime Minister. She sent follow-up letters in April and August 2025.

It’s thought the letter was not replied to by Ms Rayner before she left the government in September.