Sir Keir Starmer has admitted that he wants Angela Rayner to return to the Cabinet after her fall from grace.
The embattled Prime Minister revealed that he was still friends with former deputy PM ‘Angie’ and the pair ‘talk a lot – we still do’ when he was asked if he missed her.
He said that he wanted the former Housing Secretary back ‘at some stage’ despite her resigning for failing to pay £40,000 in stamp duty on her £800,000 new home.
The PM’s backing for Ms Rayner – long touted as a potential leadership rival – comes after a vicious internal Labour briefing war that raised questions about his future.
Speaking at the G20 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sir Keir was asked if he missed Ms Rayner and if she could return to the Cabinet before the next General Election. He said: ‘I’m friends with Angie and I like Angie a lot and we talk a lot.
‘We still do. It’s always good to have Angela.
‘I’ve always said I want Angela back. Even back in September at the time [she quit], I said she is going to be a big voice in the Labour movement,’ he told journalists.
‘But do I want Angela back at some stage? Yes absolutely.
Sir Keir Starmer has admitted that he wants Angela Rayner to return to the Cabinet after her fall from grace (pictured in September 2024)
‘I think she is the best example ever in the United Kingdom of social mobility – going from a pretty challenging childhood to being Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She is the story of social mobility above all other stories.’
His comments came after Ms Rayner refused to rule out a comeback to front-line politics, telling journalists last week that she had ‘not gone away’.
She is also rumoured to be writing her autobiography.
A poll of Labour members by Survation for LabourList confirmed the PM’s perilous position. It found that Andy Burnham, Ed Miliband, Ms Rayner and Wes Streeting would all win any head-to-head leadership contest against him.
Ms Rayner was also embroiled in a new housing row yesterday after it emerged that she bought a £2,500 super-king bed for her grace-and-favour home on expenses.
She ordered a Premier Inn luxury divan with added features when she was living in Admiralty House courtesy of the taxpayer, The Sun revealed.
Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: ‘Spending nearly £3,000 of taxpayers’ money on a bed is hardly consistent with her image as a woman of the people.
‘She now needs to explain why taxpayers are expected to bankroll premium choices while many of the people who voted Labour are tightening their belts.’
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: ‘The bed was not replaced at the behest of Angela Rayner, and she had no influence over the choice.’
Sources stressed that she brought her own bed when she moved into the flat and used it in her own room.
