Deputy leader of the Labour Party is a curious position. First, because the holder is not appointed by the leader but is instead elected by party members. This introduces some immediate ‘creative’ tensions (see: Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson). Second, and often relatedly, the deputy is not guaranteed a senior shadow/cabinet position, nor the title of deputy prime minister in those brief interludes of Labour government.
So, while in 1997 Tony Blair appointed John Prescott deputy PM and placed him in charge of what is today three departments, ten years on Gordon Brown merely made Harriet Harman Leader of the House – something of a graveyard shift in British politics. The deputy leader role is also little guarantee of the top job. Only Clement Attlee and Michael Foot went on to become leader (sorry for the Margaret Beckett erasure).
Undeterred, lots of people still seem to want the job, the most recent of whom is Angela Rayner. She’s the focus of today’s Evening Standard front page and in particular what Keir Starmer may do with her in the shadow cabinet reshuffle that must, surely, one day, eventually happen.
Relations between the two are not as close as they might be, what with Starmer having attempted (unsuccessfully) to demote his deputy following the disastrous 2021 Hartlepool by-election result, before ending up promoting her so much so that her full title is currently: Deputy Leader, Shadow First Secretary of State, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work or DLSFSSSCDLSSFW for short.
Of course, the political terrain is somewhat different today than in May 2021. Not only is Boris Johnson no longer prime minister, he’s not even the previous one. Labour is also consistently 20 points ahead in the polls and people even seem to want to spend a Sunday roast with Starmer (or, to be precise, more than they want to with Rishi Sunak).
There are suggestions that Rayner is a weak link in a not especially well-known opposition frontbench. Critics point to her ties with the Jeremy Corbyn regime, her support for the deselected left-winger Sam Tarry, with whom she is in a relationship and her description of Tories as “scum”. All this is fair enough, though I would point out that Starmer and Corbyn were hardly strangers during those years.
At the same time, Rayner has a remarkable personal story, having left school at 16 after becoming pregnant. She is also a highly-regarded House of Commons performer, though, let’s be honest, it wouldn’t exhaust the charisma of a dining room table to outshine Dominic Raab or Oliver Dowden at the despatch box.
Put another way, it does not seem obvious to me that Rayner will be the main Tory target come the next general election. If the Conservatives go low, it is more likely to be in attacking Starmer for being Director of Public Prosecutions when the decision was made not to prosecute Jimmy Savile – though he was not personally involved in the decisions made by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Should Labour’s lead narrow, or the quirks of first-past-the-post produce only a small parliamentary majority next year, Rayner’s stock and influence will rise. Until then, expect Labour’s odd couple to play happy families. Internecine warfare is more of a second-term priority.
In the comment pages, what matters most in a really good restaurant? Where you sit, says Dylan Jones. Melanie McDonagh calls the brutal A-level ‘correction’ deeply unfair. Suzannah Ramsdale asks why gyms in London are so expensive? While James Kirkup says Rayner isn’t Starmer’s Prescott but could yet be her Gordon Brown.
And finally, Lime bikes have just got their own clothing range. I understand they don’t click incessantly when you wear them for too long.
