Unlike many of my contemporaries on the opposite side of the political divide, I don’t underestimate Angela Rayner. Which other figure active in politics today could leave school at 16 — without any qualifications — and then rise to become one of the most powerful Cabinet ministers in the land?
Rayner achieved all that by the age of 44. Such a climb up the greasy pole of Labour politics clearly requires colossal ambition, and — a point often downplayed by her Right-wing critics — no short measure of skill and intelligence. Given that her highfalutin (and ageing) boss Sir Keir Starmer is now about as popular as an apocalyptic asteroid on a collision course with Earth, I think it is quite possible that Rayner — the former care worker from Stockport — could become Prime Minister before the next general election.
