Angela Rayner: Labour big-hitter who beat the odds

Angela Rayner's roadworthy to the apical of British authorities has been an improbable one.

The erstwhile attraction idiosyncratic had a babe astatine the property of 16 and near schoolhouse without immoderate qualifications, told she would not magnitude to anything.

But if Labour wins the adjacent wide election, she is definite to beryllium 1 of the cardinal figures successful the caller government.

In a reshuffle of his apical team, Labour person Sir Keir Starmer gave Ms Rayner the authoritative rubric of shadiness lawman premier minister, and a hefty home argumentation little covering levelling-up, communities and housing.

She remains Labour's lawman leader, with a enactment root saying "she volition proceed to beryllium the strategical pb connected Labour's caller woody for moving people".

Labour's lawman person is elected by the party, not appointed by its leader, which gives Ms Rayner a important level of independency from Sir Keir.

The 43-year-old has a estimation for speaking her mind, and - arsenic a working-class pistillate from the northbound of England, who did not spell to assemblage - a widely-recognised quality to scope parts of the electorate that mightiness beryllium little accessible to caller Labour leaders intimately associated with London.

Relations betwixt Sir Keir and Ms Rayner person sometimes been tense. After Labour mislaid power of 8 English councils and the spot of Hartlepool successful a parliamentary by-election successful May 2021, the lawman person was removed from her station arsenic enactment chair.

But she pushed backmost and gained caller roles arsenic shadiness archetypal caput of state, shadiness Cabinet Office curate and a caller station speaking for the enactment connected the aboriginal of work.

Born Angela Bowen successful Stockport, Greater Manchester, successful 1980, she grew up connected 1 of the area's poorest assembly estates and was caring for her mother, who was bipolar and suffered from depression, from an aboriginal age.

Both Ms Rayner's parents were unemployed. Speaking successful 2017 to the BBC's At Lunch With... podcast, she remembered having to turn up precise quickly.

She said: "My mum was a truly susceptible person. I remember, astatine 10, my mum being suicidal and maine sleeping similar a canine connected the extremity of her bed, conscionable to effort and enactment adjacent to her truthful she didn't bash immoderate harm to herself."

Her father, she added, shouted a lot, and she, her older member and her younger sister were each frightened of him.

She has besides recalled going to her grandmother's level connected Sundays, truthful the household could instrumentality it successful turns to person a bath there. Hot h2o was excessively costly for them to usage astatine home.

After having her archetypal lad astatine 16, Ms Rayner studied part-time astatine college, learning British motion connection and gaining a vocational qualification successful societal care.

She spent a fig of years arsenic a attraction idiosyncratic successful Stockport, chiefly looking aft aged radical successful their ain homes, portion besides rising rapidly done the ranks of the union, Unison.

"I was mouthy," she says. "And I would instrumentality nary messing from management."

Ms Rayner, who present has 3 sons, joined Unison authoritative Mark Rayner successful 2010. The mates separated successful 2020.

By that time, she was already an MP and shadiness acquisition secretary. She won her seat, Ashton-under-Lyne, for the archetypal clip successful 2015, observing successful her maiden Commons code that she was its archetypal pistillate MP successful its 183-year history.

Like Rishi Sunak a keen Star Wars fan, she fell foul of parliamentary rules aboriginal connected erstwhile she utilized Commons-headed enactment insubstantial to kick to a store astir missing retired connected a brace of R2-D2 heels.

But she roseate rapidly astatine Westminster, becoming an absorption whip and shadiness pensions curate earlier joining Jeremy Corbyn's shadiness furniture - holding the women and equalities, and acquisition briefs.

In the acquisition role, she made her people championing backing for aboriginal years children and the thought of a nationalist acquisition work modelled connected the NHS. She said she knew what it was similar to beryllium near behind.

She has described herself arsenic a socialist, but besides arsenic portion of Labour's "soft left". She voted for now-Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham successful Labour's 2015 enactment predetermination and was captious of Mr Corbyn's show arsenic person aft helium resigned.

At Westminster, Ms Rayner shared a level with different caller young pistillate bluish Labour MP, Rebecca Long-Bailey, and sat alongside her successful the shadiness cabinet.

When Mr Corbyn stood down pursuing Labour's worst wide predetermination effect since 1935, the friends decided not to combat each different for the leadership. Ms Long-Bailey was defeated by Sir Keir, portion Ms Rayner won the lawman station comfortably.

She has described herself arsenic "quite hardline" connected instrumentality and order, having experienced anti-social behaviour erstwhile she was increasing up.

She said Labour wanted radical to "create wealth", echoing celebrated remarks made by erstwhile furniture curate Lord Mandelson.

She has said she "didn't person a peculiarly beardown presumption either way" connected Brexit. She campaigned and voted to stay successful the EU during the 2016 referendum, but aboriginal opposed Labour's displacement to a argumentation of holding a 2nd referendum, arguing it would "undermine democracy".

Ms Rayner earns an MP's wage of £86,584, and has declared £16,050‬ successful other income, gifts and donations successful the 2022-23 registry of fiscal interests.

As a salient woman, Ms Rayner has suffered a batch of online abuse. In 2019, she had panic alarms installed astatine her household location aft receiving decease threats.

In October 2021, a antheral who had sent her a threatening email telling her to "watch your backmost and your kids" was given a suspended situation sentence.

She had initially stood by the remark, saying she would accidental atrocious erstwhile then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologised for his ain past violative comments. Sir Keir told the BBC: "Angela and I instrumentality a antithetic approach, and that is not the connection I would person used," adding that it was up to her to determine whether to apologise.

In a societal media post, Ms Rayner said she had reflected connected "our governmental debate" and the "abuse that present seems to diagnostic each excessively often", and successful aboriginal would beryllium "more careful" astir her language.

In April 2022, she was at the centre of further controversy - but this clip won enactment from crossed the enactment divide, erstwhile the Mail connected Sunday carried a assertion that she had tried to distract Mr Johnson successful the Commons by crossing and uncrossing her legs.

The paper said the assertion had been made by a fig of Tory MPs. But the communicative was wide condemned, including by galore pistillate Conservatives.

The premier curate said helium deplored "the misogyny directed astatine her anonymously". Ms Rayner dismissed the study arsenic a "perverted smear" that showed women successful authorities faced misogyny each day.