Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner refused to rule out frontline politics return

Angela Rayner has spoken about her possible return to frontline politics saying she had not “gone away”. The former deputy prime minister also called for party unity, condemning recent Labour infighting as “arrogant tittle tattle”.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror during a constituency visit to a care centre, Ms Rayner said recent reports of anonymous briefings and speculation over possible leadership manoeuvring was detached from the issues affecting everyday people.

When quizzed if a return to frontline politics may be on the cards, the former deputy Labour leader told the newspaper she had not “gone away”. She said: “I’m really humbled and I always have been, the people of Ashton-under-Lyne have always supported me.

“The 10 years that I’ve been in government I’ve had quite a number of front bench positions, and I’ve always brought it back to the people that I was there to represent and having this opportunity now, to be more in the constituency and to champion those views is something that I’m humbled to do and I’m looking forward to the challenge.

“I’ve got a lot of interests like child poverty, the fair pay agreement, and making sure the Employment Rights Bill is carried out in full.”

Ms Raynor’s remarks come after a bitter briefing war broke out at the top of Government earlier this week, in which allies of the Prime Minister said he was willing to fight off challenges to his leadership. Health Secretary Wes Streeting was singled out as a challenger, amid warnings that toppling the Prime Minister would result in market chaos.

The Government is grappling with its own Labour MPs, who are worried about the approach of ministers to a host of issues, and the party’s current polling. Home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, was asked on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips if the Prime Minister needed to think again about his leadership after a difficult week for No 10.

She said: “No. Keir Starmer is our Prime Minister. We won an election just under a year and a half or so ago, when people thought that we would not win an election for maybe a generation or more. I have no time for these things that people say or brief off the record, or any of this, frankly, Westminster bubble tittle-tattle.”

Ms Mahmood added: “If people have things to say, they should have the courage of their convictions and say so publicly, and that is not what is happening. I think what happened at the beginning of this week was, with all of those anonymous briefings, unedifying and deeply embarrassing for everyone concerned.”