Angela Rayner has told Labour MPs she is ready to replace Sir Keir Starmer despite her still being investigated over her tax affairs.
The former deputy Prime Minister has indicated that she would back Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham if he ran a leadership campaign.
However, Labour insiders have said she is still rallying MPs for support if she made her own leadership bid, if Sir Keir was forced to step down as Prime Minister at short notice, the Daily Mail reports.
One Labour source said: “Publicly she is making very loud representations that Andy should be allowed back. But she is also texting everyone saying she is ready to go.”
Ms Rayner was forced to quit the Cabinet last year after it was revealed she had not paid £40,000 in stamp duty on an apartment in Hove, on the south coast.
HMRC are currently investigating the case, but her allies believe she will be cleared of any wrongdoing and the probe would not be an obstacle to her leadership bid regardless.
The Ashton-under-Lyne MP launched a scathing attack yesterday against Sir Keir, declaring that Mr Burnham should “not have been blocked” from running in the Gorton & Denton by-election earlier this year.
She said: “So let me be honest conference. We as a party have to do better than this. And we can only prove we mean our Labour values by putting the common interest ahead of factionalism.
“And we can start by accepting that Andy Burnham should never have been blocked. It was a mistake that the leadership of our party should put right.”
