Angela Rayner is dictating terms to Keir Starmer – and settling scores (Image: Getty)
Right now, Rayner should be keeping her head down. She remains accused of dodging a £40,000 tax bill on her £800,000 second home in Hove. That’s not a great look for a working-class social warrior who thinks the rest of us should pay even more tax than we already do. It’s not stopping her though. The investigation into her stamp duty swerve hasn’t even finished, yet she’s already acting as if she’s been cleared. Does she know something we don’t? The bookies seem to think so.
As I wrote yesterday, Rayner is now clear favourite to be next PM. Her odds are down to 5/2, with Ed Miliband and Wes Streeting trailing at 6/1. Her power base is growing by the day, and she’s just started to flex her muscles. The moment the investigation is over, Rayner wants a place back in the Cabinet. But she’s not willing to accept some minor position while she quietly rebuilds her reputation. Rayner doesn’t do anything quietly.
The former deputy PM wants to return with a bang – and force out her enemies in the process. Even if it triggers a Labour civil war. Judging by her first target, it’s already turning into a grudge match. And it will be bloody.
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Top of her hit list? Incredibly, it’s Shabana Mahmood. According to a report in The Times, Rayner wants the home secretary out of her job. That’s right at the top of her list of demands, and gives us a taste of what life will be like if Rayner gets back into the cabinet, let alone No 10.
The Home Office is one of the toughest jobs in government, and Mahmood has made a pretty good fist of it. I’ve previously argued that she’s Labour’s Margaret Thatcher, and will break Angela Rayner’s heart. If I were PM, I’d sack everyone in this useless cabinet, starting with Rachel Reeves and Ed Miliband, but I’d keep Mahmood.
Shabana is smart, tough, practical and clear-minded. A grown-up, in a Cabinet full of posturing liberal nitwits. She’s at least tried to get a grip on borders and curb public anger over immigration. It’s not perfect, but it’s more than any senior Labour politician would even consider.
And Rayner hates her for it. She’s previously branded Mahmood’s policies as “unBritish” and is now reportedly telling Starmer she’ll only deign to return if she’s pushed out. It’s an astonishing and arrogant demand.
Rayner’s office denies it, but Mahmood’s allies know what’s coming and are fighting back. They’ll have a tough job on their hands, as Rayner prepares to toss fistfuls of red meat to frustrated Labour activists, who are making a beeline for Zack Polanski’s unhinged Green Party.
Labour MPs fear for their seats and are desperate for Red Ange to stem the Green flow. She’ll do that by parading hard-left policies such as open borders. And sticking the knife into Mahmood.
Rayner will do anything, if it helps her climb to the top. Including ousting that rarity, a talented Labour minister. She’s also happy to light a fire under the red-hot asylum and immigration debate, which risks raging out of control. It’s almost as if she wants to tear the country apart.
Angela Rayner is not even in the cabinet yet. She’s not even cleared her name. But she’s already throwing her political weight around in the worst possible way. Imagine the chaos if she gets into No.10.
