As the PM’s fate lay in doubt, Labour MPs plotted the party’s future direction

Angela Rayner told the national growth debate in London on Tuesday that bold action was needed to protect ordinary people from the the fallout of the Middle East crisis. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Less than a mile from the select committee room in Portcullis House where Olly Robbins held the prime minister’s future in his hands, Labour MPs were publicly workshopping how the party might look under new leadership.

It came in the guise of the Good Growth Foundation’s conference, but felt like a Labour leadership beauty parade on Pall Mall. The former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner was a last-minute addition to the programme but the most talked-about guest.