Angela Rayner

Angela Bowen was born on 28 March 1980 in Stockport, Greater Manchester. She grew up in poverty on a council estate with her older brother and younger 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, a school of further education learning British Sign Language, and gaining a 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. ==Parliamentary career==

In 2013 she sought selection to be the Labour Party's prospective parliamentary candidate for Manchester Withington. However, Jeff Smith was selected and has been the incumbent since 2015. 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 re-elected as MP for Ashton-under-Lyne with a decreased vote share of 48.1% and a decreased majority of 4,263. At the 2024 general election Rayner was re-elected as MP for Ashton-under-Lyne with a decreased vote share of 43.9% and an increased majority of 6,791. 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 (2016–2024) 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. Deputy Labour leader (2020–2025) hustings in BristolRayner 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 in 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 the Labour Party announced that Rayner would deputise for Starmer opposite Dominic Raab during Prime Minister's Questions. She deputised opposite Raab during Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak's premierships, and also deputised opposite Oliver Dowden during the Sunak premiership. 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. 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. On 5 September 2025, Rayner resigned as the deputy leader and from her ministerial position and as the deputy prime minister following the prime minister's ethics adviser, Laurie Magnus, finding that she had breached the ministerial code in relation to her failure to pay the correct amount of tax on one of her properties. Rayner condemned the late July and early August riots that started following the Southport stabbing, saying there is "no excuse for thuggery." In her first speech at the Labour Party Conference as Deputy Prime Minister, Rayner opened the conference and said "I want to start off with a thanks to the British people. You entrusted us with the task of change and we will not forget it. You kept faith with us and we will keep faith with you." As Deputy Prime Minister, Rayner has deputised for Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions on four occasions, respectively facing Oliver Dowden, Alex Burghart, Chris Philp and Mel Stride, jokingly saying during the former she would miss her and Dowden's "battle of the gingers". In July 2025, her membership of Unite, one of the largest trade unions in the UK, was suspended during an escalating dispute with the Starmer government over their role in bin strikes in Birmingham, with media speculation focussing on a possible disaffiliation of the union from the Labour Party. However Rayner has insisted that she was not a member of Unite at that time. On 5 September 2025, Rayner resigned from her ministerial position and as the deputy prime minister, and as deputy leader of the party, following the prime minister's ethics adviser, Laurie Magnus, finding that she had breached the ministerial code in relation to her failure to pay the correct amount of tax on one of her properties. This resignation triggered the 2025 British cabinet reshuffle and the 2025 Labour Party deputy leadership election, where she was succeeded by Lucy Powell. Return to the backbenches (2025–) In early February 2026, reports emerged that Rayner had privately warned Starmer against appointing Peter Mandelson as British Ambassador to the United States. Rayner's allies stated that she advised against the move in 2024, citing public evidence of Mandelson's continued friendship with Jeffrey Epstein following the financier's 2008 conviction for child sex offences. Rayner's intervention reportedly highlighted the potential for the appointment to become a significant political liability, a warning that gained renewed attention after Mandelson was sacked from the role in September 2025 following fresh revelations about his ties to Epstein. Publicly, Rayner has taken a more active role in the unfolding scandal by leading a backbench push for greater transparency. During a House of Commons debate, she questioned the government's plan for disclosing vetting documents, asking if the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) should oversee the process to maintain "public confidence". Her stance effectively forced the government into a U-turn, ensuring that cross-party parliamentarians—rather than just the Cabinet Office—would determine which sensitive documents are released to the public. While Rayner did resign as DPM in late 2025 (following an ethics investigation into her personal tax affairs), her recent actions have been interpreted by political observers as a signal of her leadership ambitions. Following a vote on the Mandelson files, she reportedly told colleagues, "I will be ready", amid mounting pressure questioning Starmer's judgment and position as PM. Her comments and parliamentary manoeuvres have contributed to an increasingly difficult environment for Starmer, who has apologised for believing Mandelson's initial claims that he "barely knew" Epstein. Rayner supported Andy Burnham's bid to stand as the Labour candidate in the 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election. After his candidacy was blocked by the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) and the by-election was subsequently won by Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer, Rayner said, "This result must be a wake up call. It’s time to really listen – and to reflect." On 17 March 2026, Rayner made a speech highly critical of the government. The speech was made at the Spring Rally of the Mainstream group of Andy Burnham. At the event held in London, she lined out her opposition to the present policies of Keir Starmer. She warned that government proposals on changes to Indefinite leave to remain are "un-British" and a "breach of trust". She also warned Labour is "running out of time" to deliver the change promised in the general election. This speech reportedly hinted at possible leadership ambitions. ==Political positions==

for a bilateral meeting at Bute House in Edinburgh, 15 August 2024|left Rayner identifies herself 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. 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". 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. In October 2020 Rayner called then 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 Andy Burnham, who had been seeking financial support for Greater Manchester following local restrictions on businesses being introduced. 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. Keir Starmer distanced himself from her remarks, but said it was up to Rayner if she wanted to apologise or not, 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 Conservative MP David Amess the following month. Rayner campaigned for Britain Stronger in Europe 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". 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. After the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin, Rayner supported the Black Lives Matter movement, and took a knee alongside Keir Starmer. == Awards and honours ==

Rayner's strong support base as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party led to the New Statesman ranking her as the eighth most powerful person in British left-wing politics for 2023. The Spectator named her Politician of the Year at its annual Parliamentarian of the Year awards ceremony in 2024. In December 2024 Rayner was included in the BBC 100 Women 2024, a list of "100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2024". ==Personal life==

Relationships and family Between 1995 and 2005 Rayner was in a relationship with Neil Batty. In 1996, aged 16, she gave birth to their son, When Ryan's partner had a daughter in November 2017, Rayner became a grandmother at age 37, giving herself the nickname "Grangela." 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 Rayner was "in a relationship" with Labour MP Sam Tarry; the relationship ended in 2023, Life during parliamentary career In October 2021 Rayner received 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 because of fears for her own safety. 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 the summer of 2022 journalists began reporting that Rayner was in a relationship with Labour MP Sam Tarry. The relationship ended in 2023, 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. Conservative MP Lia Nici later repeated the allegations in a BBC interview. In May 2022 Rayner said she would resign as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party 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 Keir Starmer were both cleared by Durham Police in July 2022 who said there was "no case to answer". During the Labour Party freebies controversy in September 2024, the Conservative Party referred Rayner to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, saying that her "failure to properly register" the use of Waheed Alli, Baron Alli's $2.5 million New York apartment may have breached the House of Commons' code of conduct. Ali had given Rayner gifts worth £3,550 of clothes in June 2024. Rayner later announced she would no longer accept clothes from donors. In March 2024 a former Conservative Party deputy chairman, Michael Ashcroft, alleged that Rayner had misled tax officials in the sale of her ex-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. 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 Metropolitan Borough 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. House tax controversy In August 2025 it was reported that Rayner had removed her name from the deeds of her constituency residence in Ashton-under-Lyne weeks before purchasing an £800,000 seafront flat in Hove in May 2025, reportedly reducing her stamp duty liability on the purchase by £40,000. However, for Council Tax purposes the Ashton-under-Lyne home continued to be her primary residence. The Telegraph alleged that Rayner had used NHS compensation money from a trust set up to care for her disabled son to purchase her Hove apartment, having sold her 25 per cent share of the house in Ashton-under-Lyne to his trust for £162,500 in January 2025. Following the report, Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake wrote to the prime minister's independent adviser on ministerial standards requesting an investigation into whether Rayner had breached the Ministerial Code. On 3 September, Rayner said she had relied on legal advice that standard stamp duty was due on her Hove flat, but later counsel advised that the trust arrangement for her son meant the higher rate applied; she said she referred herself to the ministerial standards adviser, contacted HMRC to pay any tax owed, and denied attempting to dodge tax. Graffiti was subsequently sprayed on Rayner's Hove flat and surrounding surfaces, including the phrases "Tax Evader Rayner" and "Rayner tax avoidance". The conveyancing firm who handled the purchase of Rayner's flat in Hove, Verrico & Associates, stated that they did not give Rayner tax or trust advice, and that they always direct their clients to accountants or tax experts for such matters. On 5 September 2025 Rayner announced that she was resigning from her ministerial position, as the deputy prime minister and as deputy leader of the party following the prime minister's ethics adviser, Laurie Magnus, finding that she had breached the ministerial code in relation to her failure to pay the correct amount of tax on one of her properties. ==Notes==