My job is to read between the lines. What politicians aren’t saying, what they are trying to signal, why they choose to act when they do. Sometimes it is headache-inducing, trying to figure out what on earth they are trying to say. Sometimes I ask a question and they answer a different one, the one they would rather answer.
But when I interviewed Angela Rayner on Tuesday, she did something unusual. When I asked her if she thought it was too late for Keir Starmer to turn things around, she admitted she wasn't answering my question when she said Labour could do so. An explicit acknowledgement that she wasn't saying Mr Starmer can.
As we sat in a seafront cafe in Brighton, she didn’t mince her words about the state Labour finds itself in. Once Mr Starmer's number two, she was frank about his gloomy poll ratings. But she was also frank about the scale of the task for Labour more widely to win back voters.
She wouldn't allow me to draw her onto specifics of what comes after the Makerfield by-election result on Friday. She's probably right not to. Anyone who tells you they know for sure how things will play out is having you on.
It’s clear she rates Andy Burnham, describing him as one of Labour’s best players. She previously criticised party chiefs for blocking him from running in the Gorton and Denton by-election and said he must be allowed to stand in Makerfield.
But she’s not nailing her colours to the mast. Rayner has never called for Starmer to go and has always been clear that the focus has to be on putting rocket boosters under plans to deliver the change voters crave.
She also urged Labour supporters to keep the faith. I watched her give a speech to Unison's conference later in the day, where she touted the things her party had achieved in Government. She said Labour had to shout and be proud of its achievements - or no one else would.
It's clear that she is coming off the side lines. After months spent with her head down as she waited for the results of an HMRC probe into her tax affairs, she is ready to re-enter the fray as Labour braces for a post-Makerfield reckoning.
Clad in a bright suit and sunglasses, she joked that she wasn’t exactly keeping a low profile as we walked along the Brighton seafront. Indeed, three people asked her to stop for a selfie during our five-minute stroll.
Rayner appears to have put her leadership ambitions on ice as she seeks to move past her tax row - and ahead of Burnham's potential return to Parliament. But she made it clear she wants to play a role in whatever comes next.
