Sir Keir Starmer is allegedly so worried about a future leadership challenge from Angela Rayner that he has attempted to entice her back into his Cabinet with a senior role, according to weekend reports.
Cabinet Offers and Leadership Manoeuvres
Allies of the former Deputy Prime Minister claim the Prime Minister is desperately seeking to persuade Ms Rayner to return to the front bench in a bid to shore up his own position. Sir Keir's aides have privately suggested she could be handed her old job as Housing Secretary or even the high-profile Education Secretary brief, currently held by Bridget Phillipson, in a reshuffle expected next year.
This revelation follows claims that allies of Health Secretary Wes Streeting are pressing Ms Rayner to sign up to a 'joint ticket' for the Labour leadership. This potential alliance, dubbed 'Wangela', would reportedly see Ms Rayner return to the Deputy Prime Minister role if she supported Mr Streeting's bid.
Rayner's Resistance and Path to No. 10
Sources indicate Ms Rayner is resisting both approaches. Instead, she is said to be preparing her own bid for the leadership, expected to gain momentum after what are predicted to be catastrophic local election results for Labour in May.
Her supporters believe she will be cleared by an ongoing HMRC inquiry into her tax affairs. They claim the investigation will find she made an 'inadvertent error' over the stamp duty payment on her £800,000 apartment in Hove, East Sussex, where she underpaid approximately £40,000. Such a ruling could mean she avoids a £12,000 fine and potentially repaying the full outstanding tax, paving the way for her political return.
Labour in Turmoil Amid Polling Crisis
The party has been plunged into a frenzy of internal plotting following Chancellor Rachel Reeves' disastrous Budget and dire polling figures showing Labour averaging just 18 per cent of the vote, far behind Nigel Farage's Reform UK on 27 per cent.
Despite her resignation over the tax scandal, Ms Rayner remains hugely popular with Left-wing Labour activists and MPs. Sir Keir himself praised her last month as the 'best example ever' of social mobility and said he 'absolutely' wanted her back in Cabinet at some stage.
However, Ms Rayner is said to remain furious that Downing Street did not defend her more robustly during the tax controversy, especially compared to the support given to Ms Reeves over her own 'inadvertent' licensing error.
'She's going to be completely cleared by HMRC,' one ally stated. 'And that leaves the path clear for her to come back. Starmer's terrified of her... But at the moment she's rejecting them. She wants to be free to develop her own agenda from outside the Cabinet.'
While sources close to Ms Rayner dismissed talk of active leadership plotting and said she was unaware of the HMRC outcome, the political manoeuvring is seen by some as a sign of weakness. Former Tory minister Lord Gove called it 'a sure sign of decline for the Prime Minister', adding Ms Rayner was in a stronger position than Mr Streeting.
Number 10 sources have denied any formal job offer was made but reiterated the Prime Minister's public desire to see Ms Rayner return to government.
