Angela Rayner has hit back at claims of a ‘joint ticket’ pact between her and Wes Streeting to run for the Labour leadership.
Allies of the Health Secretary were last night accused of pressuring Ms Rayner to sign up to a ‘joint ticket’ in a move to topple Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.
The disgraced former housing secretary was reportedly promised a Cabinet role if she backs Streeting for a future leadership run – while a return to her position of Deputy Prime Minister was also not ruled out.
But, a spokesperson for Mr Streeting described the claims as ‘completely untrue’, while a source close to Ms Rayner also denied there was any pact and emphasised the ex-cabinet minister would ‘not be played like a pawn’.
The Health Secretary was last month forced to deny plotting to unseat Sir Keir Starmer and criticised a ‘toxic’ culture in Downing Street after anonymous briefings against him.
It was reported that the attacks on Mr Streeting were a ploy to warn off potential leadership contenders, although the Prime Minister has said he was assured they did not emanate from No 10.
On Friday, The Telegraph reported that MPs close to Mr Streeting had approached Ms Rayner about the prospect of a pact, allowing the Cabinet minister to deny personal involvement.
Ms Rayner, who resigned from Government in September after this paper revealed she underpaid about £40,000 in stamp duty on her home in Brighton, has reportedly discussed the approaches with some of her supporters.
Allies of the Health Secretary have reportedly been pressing Angela Rayner to sign up to a ‘joint ticket’ for the Labour leadership
But the former Housing Secretary (pictured) hit back at the claims by denying there was any pact to begin with
One Rayner supporter told the Telegraph that ‘very senior-level party people’ had been pushing for a ‘peace deal’ between the two and have offered Ms Rayner ‘any job in the Cabinet she chooses’.
A left leaning Labour MP claimed Ms Rayner was hesitant about giving up on her own chances of winning the Labour leadership if she agreed to the ‘pact’.
But a spokesperson for Mr Streeting said: ‘This is a silly season story and completely untrue.
‘Wes’s entire focus is on getting the NHS through this winter, and the only deal he’s interested in doing is with the resident doctors to avert strikes.
‘People appear to be getting carried away and misinterpreting his support for Angela as something other than supporting a good person going through a difficult time.’
And a source close to Ms Rayner said: ‘There is no vacancy and there is no pact.
‘Amidst all the stirring and silly games, Angela is focused on representing her constituents and ensuring that this Government delivers. Angela is made of tough stuff and she will not be played like a pawn.’
Sir Keir Starmer last month dismissed talk of leadership challenges as ‘wasted’ time, when asked by reporters whether the briefing was helpful and what his message would be to allies considering making similar moves.
Starmer (pictured) last month dismissed talk of leadership challenges as ‘wasted’ time
A vicious internal briefing war erupted last month after allies of the Prime Minister told journalists that Sir Keir would fight off any challenger to the Labour leadership, singling out Mr Streeting.
The move to shore up the PM’s position backfired spectacularly after Mr Streeting complained of a ‘toxic’ and ‘juvenile’ culture in Downing Street.
Sir Keir was forced into a humiliating phone call to his Health Secretary to insist the briefing had not come from within Number 10.
He later held a farcical ‘whitewash’ inquiry in which he said he had been assured that no one in his team had briefed against Mr Streeting.
The embarrassing episode left the PM exposed and has prompted speculation about his position after a difficult Budget and local elections next year.
It also led to questions about the future of his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney after suggestions he was behind the briefing.
Responding to the farce, Kemi Badenoch said the Government had ‘descended into civil war’ while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage claimed the government was ‘at sea, without a rudder’.
The PM’s controversial chief of staff Morgan McSweeney was put in the firing line for the toxic briefings and faced calls to be sacked. However, one source told the BBC he had ‘was not involved indirectly or directly’ in the briefings and insisted ‘he’s not going anywhere’.
Wes Streeting and Keir Starmer during a visit to the University College London Hospital last month
Earlier this week it was revealed that the former deputy prime minister would return to front line of politics by leading moves to pressure Starmer to speed up the introduction of workers’ rights reforms.
She is set to table an amendment to the Workers’ Rights Bill she championed before resigning in disgrace so that key measures come into force sooner that previously planned.
The Bill, Labour’s flagship workers’ rights package, was stripped of the day-one right to claims against unfair dismissal amid a stand-off between peers and MPs.
Ms Rayner will not seek to restore the watered down measure, after talks with allies, but she will seek to have that qualifying period, reduced from the current two years, apply from 2026 rather than 2027 as is currently planned.
She and former minister Justin Madders are understood to have been speaking to MPs and union colleagues as they prepare the amendment together.
