Three months after being forced to quit in disgrace the former deputy PM is back – and this time its personal.
Ms Rayner, who was forced to quit over a stamp duty scandal, is back on manoeuvres (Image: Getty)
Angela Rayner is on manoeuvres meaning the nightmare before Christmas, gift-wrapped by Labour, really is playing out for us all. Punch drunk PM Sir Keir Starmer, our lame duck leader, is almost certain to be ousted but the question now is for whom?
No sooner had Ed Miliband – who has already had one disastrous stint in charge – been touted as the left’s preferred choice, who should put her head above the parapet? None other than Sir Keir’s disgraced former deputy and darling of the hard-left.
Just when you think things couldn’t possibly get any worse…
We now have a government perennially stuck in a doom loop of deceitfulness, sleaze and controversy. And that’s just the start of it.
Ms Rayner was forced to resign after breaching the ministerial code for underpaying stamp duty owed on a flat in upmarket Hove.
That followed Sir Keir Starmer accepting £16,000 worth of clothes from Labour peer Lord Alli and Tulip Siddiq quitting as a Treasury minister over her close ties to the ousted prime minister of Bangladesh, her aunt.
And not to mention the small matter of Chancellor Rachel Reeves who was forced to repeatedly deny looking Britain in the eye and lying about a “black hole” in the public finances before unleashing misery upon millions in last month’s Budget.
Crisis. What crisis?
Ms Rayner left school aged 16 without any qualifications (Image: Getty)
Ms Rayner, who left school aged 16 without any qualifications, has made no secret of the ideology that makes her tick.
As with so many of the gnarled socialists on the left of British politics, she despises those who work hard to better themselves, especially if they make lots of money doing so. It was why she was forced to “unreservedly” apologise for calling Conservatives “scum”.
But don’t be fooled by the word sorry – for her it’s the hardest word. The dogma is as real as the hypocrisy.
She recently emerged from hiding, popping up in the Commons to deliver a speech defending her pet project – workers’ rights legislation.
It was an appearance that marks her card in the almost inevitable battle for control of the party – and ergo the country – that will ensue in the New Year.
If you think this will cause Sir Keir sleepless nights, just spare a thought for the nation.
Ms Rayner’s conveyancing cock up left her chastened and humiliated and she was forced to resign in September, yet had no qualms in accepting a £17,000 severance package, despite being a past critic of payments to ministers who breached the code.
There have even been suggestions Ms Rayner purchased her palatial seaside des res in East Sussex in order to bag a winnable seat because her current constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne will likely be nicked by Reform at the next election.
But what about the current incumbent? Stuttering Sir Keir, muddling through while a mutiny mounts, said: “I was really sad that we lost her. As I said to her at the time, she’s going to be a major voice in the Labour movement.”
Asked if she would return to the Cabinet, he said: “Yes. She’s hugely talented.”
For her, all eyes are firmly set on Downing Street, and for her revenge will be a dish served ice cold.
If it comes to pass and she does become prime minister it would be a remarkable outcome, both for her and the union pals with whom she is betrothed, but it would be an unmitigated disaster for the rest of us.
