'My best mate Lucy Powell is a force of nature - and exactly what Labour needs'

My first memory of Lucy Powellis from some time in 1993. A force of nature in baggy jeans and a vest top, she was 18 years old, and most likely berating someone in authority for some injustice with the crowd already on her side.

We were both students at Oxford University, and rather like another Iron Lady, Lucy was in her first year at Somerville College. Liz Truss was a fellow student. Jacob Rees-Mogg could be seen stalking the corridors in Victorian fancy dress, as if it were actually 1893. The baronet George Osborne was running an 'ironic' student newspaper where he dressed up as a wizard agony aunt.

Lucy was the straight-talking comprehensively-educated Northerner with a bit of Manc swagger who couldn't wait to take them all on. I was Vice-President of the Student Union and ready to change the world. Bonded by a love of dance music, making mischief and social justice, we quickly became friends.

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Lucy's always said she felt like a 'duck out of water' at Oxford, but in truth so did many of us from 'normal' backgrounds, bewildered by private dining societies, references to Hunt Balls and obscure rowing terms. Meanwhile, her 'Madchester' – from the Hacienda to the Happy Mondays – was dominating the university zeitgeist. We were all a bit more John Squire than Dreaming Spires.

So, when she decided to leave Oxford early for Kings College London the year lots of us graduated and set off for the big smoke, it was no surprise. University in London not only suited Lucy better, she was able to take the job that would best prepare her later for being Leader of the House – Saturday manager at Top Shop on the Strand, where the shoplifting rate soon went down dramatically.

Lucy's love of Man City is only matched by her love of the Labour party. She joined the party at 15, and was delivering leaflets while still in the pram. So, after graduating, when I became a trainee on the Daily Mirror, it seemed natural to find her working at Labour HQ in Millbank during the '97 general election campaign, and later for the Labour MPs Bev Hughes and Glenda Jackson.

She treated Westminster with the same lack of reverence she felt for Oxbridge. Andy Burnham, a young researcher at same time as Lucy, tells a story of her slating him for – allegedly – jumping the staff canteen queue at the House of Commons, before he had even met her. Fairness is core to Lucy. It doesn't matter if it's a traffic jam, the queue at Sainsburys, cheats on Love Island or drafting legislation. And if she's set her mind on something it happens – she's only missed Glastonbury twice in all the years I've known her, even when heavily pregnant.

Lucy loves to be Cilla – when she decided on my life partner, annoyingly, she was right. In turn, I was proud to be her 'best woman' when she married her A&E consultant husband, James. She is one of life's fixers – so, when Lucy became Ed Miliband's chief of staff during his time leading the Labour Party it seemed only natural.

Lucy has two important qualities as a politician. She is always on the side of the underdog, and is relentlessly optimistic. The only time I have seen her truly down and defeated was following the murder of our friend Jo Cox, who Lucy had known since her earliest days at Westminster. As Deputy Leader she'd have Angela Rayner's resilience, irreverence and sense of fun, John Prescott's pugilistic spirit, Clem Attlee’s determination to deliver for all of Britain, and none of the qualities of Nick Clegg.

She is full of Labour virtues – not just fairness, but compassion, steely determination, and the person you'd want at your side when the chips are down. Her loyalty and decency inspire great friendship, even from people who disagree with her political views. She is a great cook, an exacting driver, and the most useful person you can find on a campsite. Just don't ring her during the World Snooker Championship or put tropical fruits in her dinner.

When I heard that after months of loyal service to his cabinet, the Prime Minister had given Lucy her marching orders, I was not the only person in Britain to think 'good luck with that'. Ready to turn the Red Wall to Wonderwall, Lucy remains Manchester through and through. As the MP for Manchester Central, her seat now encompasses Man City’s Etihad home ground – the only place she is a true blue.