Angela Rayner is said to be preparing a bid to oust Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader.
On Thursday, Labour MPs came out of the woodwork to push both Ms Rayner and Wes Streeting to launch a leadership challenge against Sir Keir over the Lord Mandelson scandal.
The ex-Deputy PM is now said to have put together a £1million-valued war chest to back her bid – just days after leading a Labour revolt against attempts to “cover up” files around Lord Mandelson’s chaos-ridden appointment as US ambassador.
She has also told friends she is “ready” to launch a leadership campaign, according to the Mail.
But Ms Rayner’s rumoured ambitions could be derailed by over an unresolved investigation into her tax affairs – for which she resigned last year.
Labour MPs, including her own allies, have warned they may not back her while an HMRC probe runs on.
“I worry about the outstanding tax she apparently owes,” one on the party’s left told The Telegraph.
Another MP said: “She could win the members. However, I don’t see how she can be a candidate until she’s paid. A lot of the wider party would love her to stand.”
Last night, the Prime Minister hosted Labour MPs at Chequers in a bid to win them over after a week of party turmoil.
But his party’s heavyweights have publicly laid into him – ex-frontbencher Andy McDonald said his job was “hanging by a thread”.
Labour’s former deputy leader Baroness Harman said Sir Keir looked weak and gullible, warning on Sky News’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast that the scandal would “finish” him.
