Starmer hints at comeback for ‘fantastic’ Rayner

Angela Rayner resigned as deputy prime minister and deputy Labour leader after it emerged she failed to pay the right tax on a flat purchase.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer with Angela Rayner (Ben Whitley/PA) (PA Archive)

Sir Keir Starmer has suggested former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has a “future role to play” in government.

Ms Rayner resigned in September after it emerged she did not pay enough stamp duty on an £800,000 flat in Hove.

Labour’s former deputy leader remains a popular figure within the party and Sir Keir said he wanted to bring her back to the front line “at the right point”.

Ms Rayner, the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, is viewed as a potential successor to Sir Keir or, if she did not run herself, as someone whose support could have a significant influence on the outcome of any contest.

“I would like to have Angela back at the right point. I’ve always been clear she has a future role to play,” the Prime Minister told Times Radio.

“She played a huge part in the achievement that we got at the last election; getting elected, we’ve just passed the Employment Rights Act, which has got her fingerprints all over it.”