Angela Rayner has secured a ‘war chest’ of more than £1million to fund her bid to succeed Sir Keir Starmer, her allies have claimed.
Amid growing expectations that Sir Keir will soon face a challenge to his leadership, the former deputy prime minister has moved her stealth operation up a gear, with sources also saying she has started to promise Cabinet jobs to her supporters.
It comes as Ms Rayner has set up a new company called The Office of Angela Rayner Ltd to conduct her business.
An ally said Ms Rayner had been cultivating donors as part of a ‘personal charm offensive’ since she was forced to resign from the Cabinet five months ago over her underpayment of stamp duty.
The ally said: ‘She has received more than a million in firm pledges and is ready to go.’
Ms Rayner’s supporters have also claimed that HMRC is dragging out its investigation into her tax affairs at the behest of the ‘deep state’ – a shadowy Establishment network trying to stop her from becoming Prime Minister.
While Sir Keir has been away from Westminster on his controversial ‘kowtow’ trip to China, his main leadership rivals – led by Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham – have been wargaming their strategies.
Mr Burnham is still seething at being blocked by the PM from standing as Labour’s candidate in the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election, which could have led to his return as an MP and paved the way for a challenge.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has reportedly secured a ‘war chest’ of more than £1million to fund her bid to succeed Sir Keir Starmer, her allies have claimed
There has been growing expectations that Sir Keir, pictured here in Beijing during his trip to Asia at the end of January, will soon face a challenge to his leadership
However, last night, one Burnham supporter told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The blocking has only delayed the inevitable. After the impending disaster of May’s local elections, the clamour for Andy’s return will become irresistible.’
A poll published yesterday gave Sir Keir his lowest-ever approval ratings, with more than half of voters now in favour of a change of Prime Minister.
Labour minds were also concentrated this weekend by a separate poll which gave Nigel Farage’s Reform UK a 12-point lead over the party.
All three of the main leadership contenders claim to have the backing of the 81 MPs required to trigger a challenge, with Mr Burnham’s supporters putting the number at over 100 and Mr Streeting’s at more than 200.
Ms Rayner’s closest allies have grown increasingly irritated by briefings from the Streeting and Burnham camps suggesting that she would lend her backing to either candidate, rather than run in her own right. One ally said: ‘She is ready to go herself. There is enough money behind her.’
No 10 has long been suspicious of the role in her operation being played by Wajid Khan, Baron Khan of Burnley, a friend of Ms Rayner’s who was removed as a minister by Sir Keir in September after Labour whips told Downing Street he was ‘organising’ for Ms Rayner.
Another source said Left-wing MPs were already being promised places in a Rayner Cabinet, with Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, a former aid worker and amateur boxer, mentioned as Health Secretary.
Labour MPs who hope Mr Burnham will take over as leader were left baffled last weekend by authoritative-seeming reports that Ms Rayner was going to help Mr Burnham’s bid to stand as the candidate in Gorton and Denton, which would have piled the pressure on the party’s Starmer-controlled NEC to remove its block.
Sir Keir and Rayner at Labour’s party conference in 2024. A Rayner ally said she had been cultivating donors as part of a ‘personal charm offensive’ since she was forced to resign from the Cabinet five months ago
Greater Manchester’s Labour Mayor Andy Burnham. Mr Burnham is still seething at being blocked by the PM from standing as Labour’s candidate in the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election
One source said Left-wing MPs were already being promised places in a Rayner Cabinet, with Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (pictured), a former aid worker and amateur boxer, mentioned as Health Secretary
One Labour source said: ‘I’m a bit flummoxed about what Angie’s been up to. She certainly didn’t try to mobilise her people on the NEC behind Andy. She seems to be doing her own thing instead.’
Labour announced yesterday that local councillor Angeliki Stogia would fight the seat.
Speaking during his Asian trip, Sir Keir declined to say whether he would be campaigning personally in the by-election in Greater Manchester, saying only: ‘We will set out our campaign plan when we have got the candidates in place.’
But one Labour MP told the MoS: ‘You won’t see him in Gorton. He’s toxic, and a Londoner to boot. He gets altitude sickness up there’.
Ms Rayner’s allies see demons lurking in the slow process of HMRC’s investigation into the tax row which ended her Cabinet career last year, after she admitted underpaying stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside flat in Hove.
One said: ‘It feels as if the spies, spooks and Tories of the deep state are stringing it out to handicap her ambitions.’
They are hoping for a swift exoneration, or partial exoneration in which HMRC concludes that she made an ‘inadvertent error’ and escapes a fine of up to £12,000 – and possibly even having to cover the £40,000 underpayment.
The Office of Angela Rayner Limited was incorporated on January 22, with Ms Rayner and her longstanding aide Nick Parrott named as the two directors. It coincides with Ms Rayner embarking on a series of post-Cabinet speaking engagements. She has also signed a deal to write her memoirs.
The former Deputy PM has set up a new company called The Office of Angela Rayner Ltd to conduct her business
Sir Keir with Health Secretary Wes Streeting. Mr Streeting is another one of the PM’s leadership rivals
Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell. Downing Street is also suspicious of the activities of Ms Powell, a Burnham ally who was the only member of the NEC to vote to allow him to stand in Gorton
For his part, Mr Burnham is biding his time until the local elections on May 7, which are widely expected to trigger a move against Sir Keir. His supporters are, however, watching Mr Streeting closely in case he makes a move if Labour lose the Gorton by-election on February 26.
Sources said Mr Burnham was now eyeing the Bootle seat held by 68-year-old Peter Dowd, adding that the ‘clamour’ for the Greater Manchester mayor to return would make it hard for the NEC to block him again.
Last month, in private remarks at a fundraising dinner, Ms Rayner declared: ‘I’ve come through the ranks… And I’m still fighting. I’m not dead yet. I ain’t giving those keys to No 10 to Nigel Farage’.
Downing Street is also suspicious of the activities of Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell, a Burnham ally who was the only member of the NEC to vote to allow him to stand in Gorton.
A source said: ‘Members of her office have been contacting MPs to big-up Angela. We don’t know if that is because she thinks there is no way back for Andy.
‘But we are also suspicious that she is playing a double game and fancies running herself. She certainly doesn’t want Wes to win, because he would get rid of her.’
Under one scenario, Ms Powell would run as a ‘stalking horse’ to trigger a contest, and then join forces with either Mr Burnham or Ms Rayner. A Labour MP said: ‘She sees herself as a bit more of a player now. I wonder if the deputy leadership has gone to her head.’
Under one scenario, Ms Powell would run as a ‘stalking horse’ to trigger a contest, and then join forces with either Mr Burnham or Ms Rayner
A spokesman for Angela Rayner said: ‘Angela has formed a company to provide staff support for her public activities, in line with precedent and with approval from the relevant authorities.
‘Angela said she would co-operate fully with HMRC and continues to do so.
‘A running commentary is not helpful, and nor is ill-informed gossip or idle speculation.’
A source close to Ms Rayner added: ‘Angela respects HMRC and any criticism of their handling of her case is not attributable to – or sanctioned by – her.’
Former deputy’s even set up new company to run official affairs
By Mark Hookham
Angela Rayner has quietly started up her own company, amid claims she could rake in hundreds of thousands of pounds from speeches and a tell-all memoir.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the former deputy prime minister incorporated a grandly titled firm called The Office of Angela Rayner Ltd on January 22. The company will be a tax-efficient way of enjoying the bumper earnings she is expected to make from the publication later this year of her ‘unvarnished, upfront’ life story.
The firm’s name is an echo of The Office of Tony Blair – the vehicle established by the former Labour PM for his lucrative commercial ventures. The move will also fuel speculation in Westminster that Ms Rayner – who resigned in September after a scandal over her tax affairs – is preparing to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership.
It was revealed last week that Ms Rayner, 45, told supporters, ‘I’m not dead yet’, as allies claimed she would have 80 MPs ready to back a leadership bid. In private remarks at a fundraising dinner, she also warned of the threat posed by Reform UK and vowed: ‘I ain’t giving those keys to No 10 to Nigel Farage.’
Records show she established The Office of Angela Rayner with her ex-chief of staff Nick Parrott. A former senior official at trade union Unite, Mr Parrott is regarded as the most effective organiser on Labour’s soft Left and is viewed with suspicion by Downing Street.
Rayner has quietly started up her own company, amid claims she could rake in hundreds of thousands of pounds from speeches and a tell-all memoir
PR guru Mark Borkowski estimated that Ms Rayner could make £1 million from her memoir. She has also recently been given approval to take up a second job, with speaking agency Chartwell Speakers.
She has taken on the post on top of her £93,904 salary as MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, despite having previously criticised politicians’ outside earnings.
In May 2023, she wrote on social media: ‘Being an MP isn’t a second job. It is the job. Labour will put an end to this racket.’ Ms Rayner quit the Cabinet after being found to have broken the ministerial code by underpaying stamp duty on a £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.
A spokesman for Angela Rayner said: ‘Angela has formed a company to provide staff support for her public activities, in line with precedent and with approval from the relevant authorities.’
