Allies of Angela Rayner have hit out at “false” claims that she is eyeing up a Labour leadership bid after the ex-deputy PM insisted she has “not gone away” when asked about a return to frontline politics.
A source close to the MP said Ms Rayner is “focussed on representing her local community” as they dismissed reports around her alleged plans to topple the prime minister as “silly games”.
It comes after the Telegraph reported that the ex-housing secretary was laying the groundwork for a leadership bid, at the end of a week which saw a bitter briefing row surrounding Sir Keir Starmer’s future.
A source close to Ms Rayner said: “This is total rubbish and obviously false. Amidst all the stirring and silly games, Angela is focussed on representing her local community and ensuring that the priorities she championed in government are delivered in full.”
Meanwhile, Ms Rayner said Labour MPs should be drowning out the “tittle tattle” in SW1 as she urged leaders to focus on “real challenges that real people are facing” in her first interview since stepping down as deputy prime minister.
She vowed to “keep fighting” for ordinary people in an interview with the Daily Mirror from her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency.
When asked if she would return to frontline politics, she told the newspaper she has “not gone away”.
She said: “I’m really humbled and I always have been, the people of Ashton-under-Lyne have always supported me.
“The 10 years that I’ve been in government I’ve had quite a number of front bench positions, and I’ve always brought it back to the people that I was there to represent and having this opportunity now, to be more in the constituency and to champion those views is something that I’m humbled to do and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Her interview comes after a week of intense political infighting in Westminster, including anonymous briefings and speculation that health secretary Wes Streeting was angling for a leadership challenge to Sir Keir.
The prime minister has launched an investigation into the source of the allegations after Mr Streeting publicly denied the claims and hit out at the “toxic culture” around the No 10 operation, focusing fresh attention on whether Sir Keir’s longtime ally and chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, could survive in his post.
Ms Rayner blasted the furore as “arrogant” and said working in the constituency is where MPs should be focused.
“I think Wes has clearly set out his stall after what was clearly a very turbulent couple of days. And I think being around here for the last hour just shows you actually that that tittle tattle in Westminster – it almost looks arrogant when you’ve got real challenges that real people are facing and that’s what we really need to be focusing on,” she said.
Pointing to policies like free breakfast clubs and bringing down NHS waiting lists, she added: “These are good material things that are going to make a difference, we can’t be drowning that out with tittle tattle in Westminster.
“We’ve got to be focused on the people we’re there to represent.”
She added that the party “should always be together”.
“I’ve always been of that nature and the way in which I’ve worked within our movement is, our movement has many different views and we should always look to bind ourselves within that,” she said.
Ms Rayner stepped down as deputy prime minister, housing secretary and deputy Labour leader in September after admitting to underpaying stamp duty on a property in Hove.
An independent ethics probe found she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on a seaside flat.
Ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus said she had “acted with integrity” but failed to heed legal advice warning her of the correct surcharge owed.
In her resignation statement in the House of Commons last month, Ms Rayner said that the saga had been “incredibly tough” on her family.
“All of us in public life know all too well the toll of the intense scrutiny we face places on our loved ones,” she said.
“But I’ve always believed in the highest standards of transparency and accountability, and it is what the public expects and it is the price we pay for the privilege of service.
“That’s why I referred myself to the independent adviser and gave them access to all of the information he needed. As I set out then, parents of a disabled child with a trust who divorce and seek different properties face a complex tax position.
“If there is one good thing that can come out of this, I hope that other families in this situation may be aware of that, and avoid getting into the position that I am now in.”
