Sir Keir Starmer came under fire after declaring that Angela Rayner will return to his Cabinet. The Prime Minister said he missed his former deputy, who quit in a row over her tax affairs.
Sir Keir told The Observer: “Yes, of course I do. I was really sad that we lost her. As I said to her at the time, she’s going to be a major voice in the Labour movement.”
Pressed whether she will be back in the Cabinet, he said: “Yes. She’s hugely talented.”
Sir Keir added that the Ashton-under-Lyne MP was “the best social mobility story this country has ever seen”.
There have been reports that Health Secretary Wes Strewing is pressing Ms Rayner to sign up for a “joint ticket” for the Labour leadership.
Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: “Only Keir Starmer could try and fix a government already drowning in scandal by bringing back another rule-breaker.
“Angela Rayner breached the ministerial code, avoided paying property taxes, resigned in disgrace – and still hasn’t settled the council tax she owes, yet Starmer is rolling out the red carpet for her return.
“It’s obvious why. He hasn’t got the backbone to stand up to the Streeting-Rayner pact now circling his leadership.
“Even his own MPs are openly preparing to move against the most unpopular Prime Minister in history.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Ms Rayner resigned as deputy prime minister, housing secretary and deputy Labour leader in September after an independent ethics probe found she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on a seaside flat.
Sir Keir also insisted that he had no intention of stepping aside before the next general election as questions continue over his future.
He said: “When I took over the Labour party, everyone said to me, ‘you’re not going to be able to change the party’. We ignored that and carried on.
“Then they said to me, ‘you’re not going to be able to win an election’. We got a landslide Labour victory.
“Now, 17 months into a five-year Labour term, they say ‘you’re not able to change the country’.
“Every time we’ve been in this position, we’ve defied them. And that’s what I intend to do.”
