Angela Rayner

Angela Rayner (born 28 March 1980) is a British politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government since July 2024. She has been Deputy Leader of the Labour Party since 2020 and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashton-under-Lyne since 2015. Ideologically she identifies as a socialist and as being part of Labour's soft left.

Rayner was born and raised in Stockport, where she attended the comprehensive Avondale School. She left school aged 16 whilst pregnant and without any qualifications. She later trained in social care at Stockport College and worked for the local council as a care worker. She eventually became a trade union representative within Unison, during which time she joined the Labour Party. She was selected to contest AshtonunderLyne in 2014 and was elected for the seat at the 2015 general election. From 2016 to 2024, Rayner held several senior shadow cabinet positions under Jeremy Corbyn and Sir Keir Starmer, and successfully stood for the deputy leadership in 2020.

Following Labour's victory in the 2024 general election, Rayner entered government and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government by Starmer in his government. Rayner's strong support base and potential as a future leader led to the New Statesman ranking her as the eighth most powerful person in British left-wing politics for 2023.

Early life and career
Angela Bowen was born on 28 March 1980 in Stockport, Greater Manchester. She grew up in poverty on a council estate with her brother and sister and says she could have been taken into care. Her mother's bipolar disorder impacted the family; Rayner has stated: "When I was young, we didn't have books because my mother could not read or write." Her website describes how, "[f]or the most part, I was raised by my grandma who worked at three jobs to put food on the table and didn't stop until the day she died - three days before her 65th birthday."

Rayner attended Avondale High School in Stockport. At age 16, she became pregnant, and left school without obtaining any qualifications. She later studied part-time at Stockport College, learning British Sign Language, and gaining an National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) Level 2 in social care. Rayner has spoken about how the Sure Start centres of the New Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown assisted her as a young mother with little support.

Rayner worked for Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council as a care worker for a number of years. During this time, she was also elected as a trade union representative for Unison. She was later elected as convenor of Unison North West, becoming the union's most senior official in the region, during which time she joined the Labour Party. In 2012, The Guardian featured a lengthy profile of Rayner as part of an article on a trade union officer's working life.

Member of Parliament
"All the previous MPs who have represented my historic constituency have had one thing in common that I do not share: they have all been men. Today, I stand here making my maiden speech as the first woman MP to serve Ashton-under-Lyne in 183 years, and, as the first woman MP, I promise that I will do all in my power to live up to the examples shown by my predecessors. Of course, I could never fill their shoes—mine tend to have three-inch heels and to be rather more colourful—but I walk in their footsteps. We are different, and I will be different, but we are equal too." In September 2014, Rayner was selected as the Labour Party's prospective parliamentary candidate for Ashton-under-Lyne. She was elected as MP for Ashton-under-Lyne at the 2015 general election with 48.1% of the vote and a majority of 10,756 votes. She made her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 2 June 2015. At the 2017 general election, Rayner was re-elected as MP for Ashton-under-Lyne with an increased vote share of 60.4% and an increased majority of 11,295 votes. At the 2019 general election Rayner was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 48.1% and a decreased majority of 4,263. At the 2024 general election Rayner was again re-elected, with an increased majority.

Rayner nominated Andy Burnham in the 2015 Labour leadership election, but was one of just 18 MPs to back the incumbent Jeremy Corbyn against Owen Smith in the 2016 leadership election.

Shadow Minister
On 1 July 2016, after a series of resignations from the shadow cabinet in protest at his leadership, Corbyn appointed Rayner as Shadow Secretary of State for Education. She supported the notion of a 'National Education Service' to be modelled along similar lines to the National Health Service (NHS), also promoting an increase in funding for early years education. She was considered by some as a possible future Labour leader.

Labour leadership election
Rayner did not stand for the Labour leadership in the 2020 leadership election, and supported Rebecca Long-Bailey, who came second to Keir Starmer. However, Rayner stood for the deputy leadership the 2020 deputy leadership election. She achieved sufficient support from affiliates to qualify for the final ballot on 20 January, at which point she also had the greatest number of nominations from CLPs. The results were announced on 4 April 2020, with Rayner announced as the winner and becoming deputy leader, succeeding Tom Watson. In the days following she was appointed Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Shadow First Secretary of State and Chair of the Labour Party. Rayner was appointed to the Privy Council on 12 February 2021. On 9 April 2020, when Boris Johnson was prime minister, the Labour Party announced that Rayner would deputise for Starmer opposite Dominic Raab during prime minister's questions.

In Shadow Cabinet
Rayner was removed from her roles as the Labour Party's chair and national campaign coordinator in a reshuffle by Starmer on 8 May 2021, following the 2021 local elections. She was subsequently appointed Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work.

In October 2020, Rayner called Conservative MP Chris Clarkson "scum" as he was giving a speech in Parliament, and was rebuked by the Parliament's deputy speaker for doing so. She later apologised. Clarkson had been critical of Burnham, who had been seeking financial support for Greater Manchester following local restrictions on businesses being introduced. Clarkson's constituency falls within the boundaries of Greater Manchester, as does Rayner's. In September 2021, Rayner strongly criticised senior members of the Conservative Party, stating: "We cannot get any worse than a bunch of scum, homophobic, racist, misogynistic, absolute pile... of banana republic... Etonian... piece of scum". Some Labour MPs, while saying it was not the language that they would have used, defended her comments, including Steve Reed, John McDonnell and Lisa Nandy. Starmer distanced himself from her remarks, but said it was up to Rayner if she wanted to apologise or not, while other Labour MPs, including shadow cabinet ministers, condemned her in stronger terms. Several Conservative MPs, including Grant Shapps, Amanda Milling and Oliver Dowden, condemned her comments. Rayner later apologised for her comments in light of the murder of David Amess the following month.

On 24 April 2022, Rayner was the subject of a report in The Mail on Sunday, by Glen Owen, in which it was alleged that she had tried to distract Boris Johnson in the Commons by crossing and uncrossing her legs in a similar manner to Sharon Stone in a scene from the 1992 film Basic Instinct. The report was subsequently condemned by a range of voices across the political spectrum including Johnson and the Speaker of the House Lindsay Hoyle. The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) reported that it had received 5,500 complaints about the article and would undertake an investigation. Lia Nici later repeated the claims in a BBC interview.

In May 2022, Rayner said she would resign if she received a fixed penalty notice for breaching COVID-19 regulations while campaigning during the run-up to the Hartlepool by-election and local elections the previous year. The controversy surrounding the event was dubbed "Beergate". She and Starmer were both cleared by Durham Police in July 2022 who said there was "no case to answer". Following Johnson's resignation announcement, Rayner pledged to bring forward a vote of no confidence in the government if the Conservatives did not immediately remove Johnson, with Starmer announcing a similar proposal.

On 4 September 2023, Starmer appointed Rayner as shadow levelling up secretary, and shadow deputy prime minister. Rayner's strong support base and potential as a future leader led to the New Statesman ranking her as the eighth most powerful person in British left-wing politics for 2023.

2024 general election
During the 2024 general election Rayner took part in a BBC debate hosted by Mishal Husain on 7 June, which also included Nigel Farage, Carla Denyer, Rhun ap Iorwerth, Daisy Cooper, Stephen Flynn and Penny Mordaunt. The debate included exchanges between Rayner and Mordaunt over Labour's alleged tax plans. After the seven-way debate, a snap poll found that viewers considered Farage had won, followed by Rayner. Another debate between these leaders took place on 13 June, with Julie Etchingham as moderator. This debate included further exchanges between Rayner and Mordaunt over Labour's alleged tax plans.

Deputy Prime Minister (2024–present)


Following Labour's victory in the 2024 general election, Rayner was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government by Starmer.

Political views
Rayner identifies as a socialist. In a 2017 interview to The Guardian which discusses her political beliefs, Rayner highlighted her pragmatism, describing herself as being part of the "soft left" of the Labour Party. She has strongly criticised former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as he "did not command the respect of the party", and critiqued his lack of "discipline" when it came to dealing with allegations of antisemitism.

Rayner has described herself as "quite hardline" on law and order issues, having suffered from antisocial behaviour when she was young. In an interview, she said police should "shoot your terrorists and ask questions second" and that she had told her local police force to "beat down the door of the criminals and sort them out and antagonise them."

Rayner asked Hansard transcribers not to correct her speeches, preferring "to talk naturally" in the commons "because it's who I am".

In 2019 Rayner declared her support for the WASPI campaign for compensation for women affected by government pension age changes.

A member of the Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East, Rayner has condemned the killings of Palestinians during the 2018–2019 Gaza border protests and has repeatedly cited Israeli violations of human rights against Palestinians on social media.

Rayner has said that she "didn't have a particularly strong view either way" on Brexit. She campaigned and voted to remain in the European Union (EU) during the 2016 Brexit referendum. After the referendum result, she voted in favour of triggering Article 50, arguing that although she was "fiercely pro-EU" she was "also a democrat". She opposed Labour's policy for a second referendum adopted under Corbyn and argued that it would "undermine democracy". She also opposed a delay to Article 50. When asked how she would vote in a second referendum in December 2019, Rayner said she would vote leave as long as the withdrawal agreement "protects the economy and jobs".

Rayner supports transgender rights, saying that they do not conflict with women's rights.

Personal life
Rayner lives in her constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne with her family. She has three sons.

At 16, she gave birth to her first son, Ryan, with her 19-year-old boyfriend, Neil Batty. Recalling her experience of being a teenage mother on a council estate, she said that Ryan's birth "actually saved me from where I could have been, because I had a little person to look after." When Ryan's partner had a daughter in November 2017, Rayner became a grandmother at age 37, giving herself the nickname "Grangela."

In 2010, she married Mark Rayner, a Unison official, with whom she had two more sons, Charlie and Jimmy. Rayner says that the care her son Charlie received after his premature birth demonstrated the importance of the NHS to her. Rayner and her husband separated in 2020.

In the summer of 2022, journalists began reporting that Rayner was in a relationship with Labour MP Sam Tarry but they split up in 2023. In a 2022 interview, Rayner recounted losing over 6 stone in weight thanks to a year-long training programme. She then took out a bank loan of £5,600 for cosmetic surgery on her 30th birthday.

In October 2021, Rayner reported receiving a number of death threats and abusive messages. The police arrested a 52-year-old man in Halifax. She cancelled a number of meetings with her constituents due to fears for her own safety. Later, a 36-year-old man from Cambridgeshire was prosecuted after sending her a threatening email. The man pleaded guilty in court to sending the email and was sentenced to 15 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months. Earlier in March 2019, Rayner said that she had fitted panic buttons at her home after rape and death threats were sent to her.

In March 2024 a former Conservative Party deputy chairman, Michael Ashcroft, alleged that Rayner had misled tax officials in the sale of her council house in 2015. Rayner said that she had done nothing wrong, and declined to publish her tax records or tax advice. Greater Manchester Police said they found no evidence that any offence had been committed. At the request of Conservative MP James Daly, the police agreed to review their decision not to investigate. The police confirmed in April 2024 that they had opened an investigation into the allegations. A poll by the research consultancy Savanta indicated that 56% of Labour voters and 26% of Tory voters thought the allegations were a smear campaign by the Conservative Party. Rayner subsequently said that she would "do the right thing and step down" if she were found to have broken the law. Later that month, Greater Manchester Police and Stockport Council both said that they would take no action against Rayner. Rayner was also cleared by HM Revenue and Customs, which concluded that she did not owe any capital gains tax and thus no action would be taken. Rayner welcomed the announcement, and said the Conservatives had used "desperate tactics" against her.