Angela Rayner said she was “absolutely not” behind a leaked memo sent to Rachel Reeves calling for tax rises – and ruled out being Prime Minister.

The Deputy Prime Minister was asked by Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips to dispel suggestions she may have been behind the leak of a memo to the Chancellor, in order to grow support for a future leadership bid.

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Mr Phillips asked her: “There are cynics that say you may have leaked that memo yourself as a kind of mini manifesto for the kind of leadership you’d offer if the Labour Party’s needs arose. Would you like to knock that one on the head?”

She replied, smiling: “Yeah, absolutely not, and I don’t want to be leader of the Labour Party.”

Pressed on this, she added: “No, I’m very happy and honoured to be Deputy Prime Minister of this country, and I’ve got a lot in my in-tray to prove that I can do the job that I’m doing and deliver on the milestones for the people of this country.

“That’s what I’m interested in.”

Mr Phillips went on: “You know this is being recorded don’t you, because actually if you do [become leader of the Labour Party] somebody’s going to play it back to you.”

She responded: “Absolutely, I’ll be happy for you to play it back to me. I have no desire to go for the leadership of the Labour Party. My desire is to deliver for the people of this country, who have given me opportunities beyond what I could have dreamed of.”

Asked to say the word never, she gave the one-word verdict: “Never.”