While other Labour Party members might hesitate when calling themselves a socialist, deputy leader Angela Rayner affirms her identity loudly. As the party’s new Red Queen , many will now be looking to her – like John Prescott before her – to stand as guardian of its traditional values in the face of a modernising leadership. The parallels with the Blair-Prescott era are hard to ignore.
Like her predecessor, she worked her way up the hard way, leaving school at 16 and cutting her teeth as a trade union official before embarking on a political career in parliament. While she has not actually hit any voters, as the pugnacious Mr Prescott famously did, she has not been afraid to engage in old-fashioned class warfare, once describing the Conservatives as “a bunch of scum”. As with Tony Blair and Mr Prescott, there have been tensions with her lawyerly leader.
Sir Keir Starmer once tried to demote her, only to end up extending the range of her shadow cabinet responsibilities. Read more: General Election results IN FULL for Bristol and wider West of England region Jacob Rees-Mogg reacts after losing seat to Labour MP She is now set to take charge of one of the most contentious elements of the new Government’s policy agenda, overseeing a major extension or workers’ rights with the creation of a new watchdog with powers to fine and prosecute errant employers. It is a prospect that has some business leaders looking nervously over their shoulders, but that is unlikely to de.
