Keir Starmer says former deputy Angela Rayner will make cabinet comeback

Sir Keir Starmer had said the ‘hugely talented’ Angela Rayner will return to his cabinet, blaming misogyny for the level of criticism she faced.

In September, Rayner stepped down as deputy prime minister, housing secretary and deputy Labour leader 

This came after an independent ethics investigation found that she failed to pay the correct stamp duty on her seaside flat.

The PM told The Observer that he ‘missed’ Rayner, who faced similar criticism fuelled by misogyny as Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

He called Rayner ‘the best social mobility story this country has ever seen’, highlighting her working-class background, where she left school at 16 and rose to become deputy.

Starmer added: ‘As I said to her at the time, she’s going to be a major voice in the Labour movement.’

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch argued during the Prime Minister’s Questions last month that if Rayner was to return, it should be on the condition that ‘she must pay back £40,000 of property taxes she avoided.’

After reports of a deal for her and Health Secretary Wes Streeting to run for the Labour leadership, a source said she will ‘not be played like a pawn.’

Reports said allies of Streeting were pressing Rayner to sign up to a ‘joint ticket’ for the top job; however, the source said ‘there is no vacancy, and there is no pact.’

Sir Keir insisted he has no intention of stepping down before the next election.

He said: ‘When I took over the Labour party, everyone said to me, ‘you’re not going to be able to change the party’. We ignored that and carried on.

‘Then they said to me, ‘you’re not going to be able to win an election’. We got a landslide Labour victory.

Now, 17 months into a five-year Labour term, they say ‘you’re not able to change the country’.

‘Every time we’ve been in this position, we’ve defied them. And that’s what I intend to do.’

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