Angela Rayner would ‘rather stick pins in her eyes’ than back former Cabinet colleague Wes Streeting to become the next prime minister, it was claimed today in the latest sign of Labour splits.
Allies of the former deputy prime minister dashed hopes that she would link up with the Health Secretary on a unity ticket if Sir Keir Starmer was forced from No10.
One said that Ms Rayner, who was forced out in the summer by a scandal over £40,000 of unpaid stamp duty on a holiday home purchase, was more likely to stand against Mr Streeting.
And another told the Times: ‘(She is) no one’s pawn … The idea that she can just be moved about the chessboard at someone else’s will is rubbish.’
At the weekend it was revealed that the Ilford North MP wanted Ms Rayner to join him in a pact that would allow a smooth succession if Sir Keir is booted out over horrific poll numbers.
But she is said to be eying the top job herself, suggesting that a period of internecine warfare is likely if the PM does stand down – something that is far from certain.
It was also revealed that Ms Rayner turned down a major six-figure offer to take part in I’m A Celebrity get Me Out of Here!
They said she was approached by ITV after she quit in September and the cash involved dwarfed the £400,000 paid to former Tory health secretary Matt Hancock in 2022.
Allies of the former deputy prime minister dashed hopes that she would link up with the Health Secretary on a unity ticket if Sir Keir Starmer was forced from No10.
One said that Ms Rayner, who was forced out in the summer by a scandal over £40,000 of unpaid stamp duty on a holiday home purchase, was more likely to stand against Mr Streeting.
It suggests that a period of internecine warfare is likely if the PM does stand down – something that is far from certain.
Other politicians who have taken a turn in the Australian outback include Reform leader Nigel Farage and former Tory ministers Edwina Currie and Nadine Dorries.
Ms Rayner has fueled the Labour leadership frenzy after forcing Sir Keir to speed up the workers’ rights overhaul.
Ministers have agreed that the Employment Rights Bill will be implemented from January 2027 instead of October that year.
The timetable has been stepped up after Ms Rayner threatened to push a Commons amendment on a 2026 deadline.
During intense debate on the legislation this week, the former deputy PM sent a message to Sir Keir that the government must not ‘blink’ again – after humiliatingly ditching ‘day one’ rights to claim unfair dismissal to break a stand-off with the Lords.
Doubts have been mounting about the PM’s prospects of survival, with even the Labour Together think-tank that propelled him to power quietly asking local parties for views on a successor.
Sir Keir meanwhile has said Europe’s leaders must rehash how a major human rights treaty is interpreted in law to tackle illegal migration and prevent voters from turning to ‘the forces that seek to divide us’.
The Prime Minister and his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen have made a joint call on other leaders across the continent to agree a ‘modernisation’ of how the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is interpreted in their countries’ laws.
In an opinion piece for the Guardian newspaper, the two prime ministers advocated for a tougher approach to policing Europe’s borders as a means of winning against populist political opponents, and said they were ‘making this case across Europe’.
Sir Keir’s political opponents, the Conservatives and Reform UK, have both said they would leave the ECHR if in power.
The ECHR, which underpins Britain’s Human Rights Act, is seen by its critics as a major barrier to attempts to deport illegal migrants from the country.
The right to family life, enshrined by article 8 of the agreement, is often used as grounds in legal cases to prevent removals.
The Home Office has also said it has seen a trend of article 3 rights, prohibiting torture, being used to halt deportations because of claims migrants’ healthcare needs could not be met in their homeland.
