Angela Rayner has emerged as a potential challenger to Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he battles to save his job following disastrous election results for the Labour Party.
Political Comeback
The 46-year-old, who stood down as Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary in September 2025 amid a row over stamp duty on her £800,000 Hove flat, is back in the possible leadership race. On Thursday, Rayner announced she had been "exonerated" by HMRC of wrongdoing following an investigation into her tax affairs, declaring she had never "deliberately sought to avoid tax."
It comes as Health Minister Wes Streeting announces his resignation today, with the MP thought to be ready to join the scramble for the top spot as the Labour Party navigates a civil war.
Atypical MP
But Rayner is no typical MP in the stuffy corridors of power. By the age of ten, she was a carer for her mother; at 16, she was a mother herself. Now a grandmother at 46, she remains the "clubbing" MP who prefers tartan Dr. Martens over sensible shoes.
Early Life in Poverty
For Rayner, the cost-of-living crisis isn't a talking point - it was her life. Growing up in extreme poverty on a council estate in Stockport, she helped care for her bipolar mum, who could not read or write, while her dad was unemployed.
"We were hungry, pretty much every day – worse in the holidays," Angela told the Mirror in 2023. "We were all really thin. I think my sister was hospitalised once, I think for two weeks, she was so thin. She was about eight."
Hot water came courtesy of her Nana, who let the family come round to her high-rise flat for a bath once a week, sharing it in rank order.
She also witnessed crime on her estate. "I was eight or 10 and I'd have to walk to the shops to get bread and milk and I knew I'd get leathered. I was beaten up all the time."
Her mother's inability to read led to heartbreaking mistakes. Rayner recalled: "There was never any breakfast in the morning. I was always behind (at school) because Mum couldn't read or write, we didn't do books. We ended up with dog meat once when she thought it was stewing steak because she just looked at the picture."
Teenage Motherhood
Looking for a way out, Rayner spent her early teens hanging around older boys and became pregnant, resulting in giving birth to son Ryan at 16. "From 13/14 I was always hanging about with older boys. Boys in school used to call me names. But outside older boys would pay me attention because I looked older for my age. I was going to clubs from 14. I wanted to be loved. I didn't intend to get pregnant, it was literally the first time," she admitted.
Angela became a grandmother in November 2017 when Ryan, then 20, had daughter Lilith Mae. In addition to Ryan, she has boys Jimmy and Charlie with then-husband Mark Rayner, a union official. Rayner and her husband separated in 2020, and she is now thought to be in a relationship with Sam Tarry, the former Labour MP for Ilford South. The couple previously dated between 2022 and 2023.
In April 2023 she referred to him as her "soulmate", telling attendants at a fundraising event in his Ilford South constituency that he was "one of the most kind-hearted, amazing individuals and he's also my soulmate." In November 2023, the couple split, but are thought to have since reconnected.
Political Views and Legacy
Today, she credits the welfare state for her survival. "Me, my brother and sister are a success of the welfare state, we all work and contribute. I could have been like my mum. But I was given opportunity – that's what is stolen from people today."
Rayner's working class roots set her apart from the majority of MPs, and she says she is still uncomfortable within the Westminster bubble. "My favourite bit of my job is to be out," she said. "Being in London I find most challenging. I once described Westminster as Hogwarts. It feels a bit like a boarding school as you have to stay away from family, and read a lot. I like to see what's happening on the ground."
Her downtime reflects that spirit. Whether she's behind the decks in Ibiza, or dancing in Spain, the MP has refused to apologise for having a life outside of politics. In 2023, she was spotted wearing a pair of tartan Dr. Martens because her feet were sore after returning from a holiday in Spain where she danced along to her favourite club anthems from 4pm to 5am.
The following summer, she was pictured raving behind a DJ deck in Ibiza, belting out the lyrics to a remix of Gotye's hit song Somebody That I Used to Know to a large, cheering crowd at Hi Ibiza, a 5,000-capacity club. In response to the backlash she received online, Rayner joked: "I mean, you can criticise my dancing all you like, it is subjective! Yes, I'm working class, I like a dance. I like dance music!"
Her voting record is a direct reflection of her past, with the MP previously opposing calls to reduce welfare benefits, and showing support for higher, longer-lasting benefits for those unable to work due to illness or disability. She also backs worker rights and has called for employment security to be hardened, arguing that working class people do not want "handouts" but support to find jobs. As a Minister, she has been heavily involved in reforming leasehold laws and increasing social housing supply, and she has supported maintaining the five-year route to settlement for refugees.
