Angela Rayner has said it's not too late for Labour to win back public trust as she heaped praise on Andy Burnham's by-election campaign. The former Deputy Prime Minister said Labour needed to show it was on the side of ordinary people and agreed with Mr Burnham that voters felt politics wasn't working for them.
Warning of a 'Line in the Sand'
In an interview with The Mirror, Ms Rayner described the Makerfield by-election as a 'line in the sand' moment and warned that time is running out for her party to turn things around. Labour is braced for the results of what is considered the most consequential by-election in decades, with Mr Burnham expected to challenge Keir Starmer for the leadership if he wins. The Prime Minister has made it clear he wants to fight any challenger, setting the stage for a bitter battle over Labour's future.
Praise for Burnham's Campaign
Ms Rayner sidestepped questions on whether she would back Mr Burnham but welcomed the prospect of him returning to Parliament, saying Labour needed to have 'our best players around'. Asked if it's too late to achieve the change needed under Mr Starmer's leadership, she said: 'I don't think it's too late for the Labour Party to deliver that, and that's a different question. I know I'm not answering your question direct. I think that it's hard to escape the feeling that the public have had towards Keir.'
She added: 'But I do think that there is an opportunity for us to say we're listening, and this is crucial. People need to see that the Labour Party are listening and that they're on their side. I think that's the challenge for us, because they've been very loud and clear in what they've said to us on the doorstep, and it's now our opportunity to listen to that.'
Broader Conversation on Politics
Ms Rayner said Mr Burnham was focused on winning the by-election but had sparked a wider conversation. 'What's going on in Ashton-in-Makerfield is going on in Ashton-under-Lyne, it's going on in the Midlands, it's going on across the country. The challenges are the same, so of course he's having that wider conversation. But this is about making sure that the Labour Party are able to work together, so that we can deliver the change that people want, and I'm up for that. I'm up for playing my role in that.'
She backed his vision around areas like de-industrialisation, devolution and fixing the cost of living, which she said Mr Starmer's Government had also worked hard on. She said Mr Burnham was winning over voters in Makerfield with a 'new type of politics', talking about hope and a path to change Britain.
Government Mistakes Acknowledged
Asked if she was suggesting the Government had failed to do this, she said: 'The Government has made some mistakes and are deeply unpopular. I think we have to acknowledge that. You saw that come through in the local elections. People didn't feel like we were delivering the change quickly enough. Some of the mistakes we made - whether it was on winter fuel, whether it was on being able to stand up for the rights of the people of Palestine - these things were value based. They were not necessarily a policy issue, it was a values issue that meant people felt, 'well you're not standing up for your values'. I think that was more crushing than anything else.'
Critical Choice at Makerfield
She said the Makerfield by-election offered a critical choice between hope and division spouted by Reform - and could be Labour's last chance to turn things around. 'I think it is a line in the sand moment. I think everybody in the Labour Party understands the challenge that we face. I think there's conversations that have been had and I welcome them about how we deliver for people and deliver the change and what that means, and I think that's an important part of this process. But we have a limited time to do it, and people are impatient for change because they're struggling. It's not unreasonable of the voters to say, 'You said change, you said you were going to improve my life. My life's getting harder, it's not getting easier'. They want to see that we stick to our values and we make decisions based upon what we promised.'
Labour's top priority must be thrashing out how it can deliver the change the public is asking for, she said. 'For me, it's much bigger than about who the leader is. You don't have to fix everything immediately, because people understand, working-class people understand more than anyone that you don't get everything that you want. They want realism. They understand that you can't have everything, but they want to see our values and the change married up.'
Rayner's Personal Challenges
Ms Rayner dramatically resigned from Government last year after the PM's ethics chief Sir Laurie Magnus found she had broken the rules by underpaying stamp duty by £40,000 on her seaside flat. An HMRC investigation finally cleared her last month, allowing her to settle the outstanding tax bill and shake off the questions that had been hanging over her for months. The affair has been difficult for her, particularly the intense scrutiny on her family life, and she acknowledged she needs to earn back voters' trust. She said: 'I always tried to do the right thing and play by the rules. I think that the biggest challenge for me was that people felt that somehow I was a hypocrite, that I was just in it for myself, and that's never been the case.'
Moving forward, she sees her role as 'keeping us on track' - whatever position she holds. 'What I focus on is what can I do in my role to make things better. How do I continue to push on things like the Employment Rights Act, making sure we deliver in full [on] make work pay, making sure that we deliver what we said in our manifesto, making sure that we make people's lives better. I'm impatient for that change. So, I'll play my role in delivering that.'
Criticism of Immigration Reforms
She has been outspoken in her criticism of Labour's immigration reforms, particularly around plans to make it harder for people to permanently settle in the UK, which could apply retrospectively. Changes proposed by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood could extend the wait for carers to get indefinite leave to remain from five to 15 years. Ms Rayner, a former care worker, said: 'We shouldn't take retrospective action on carers that we asked to come to this country to work. I reject that they're low skilled. I do not think care workers are low skilled. If you look at the complex care needs of people now, if you look at the crisis that we have in the NHS, it's because we don't have the care workers.' She went on: 'In Britain you play by the rules. The rules are there for everybody, and if you do that, then the rules will protect you. If you rip up the rules halfway through - that's not how we are.'
