𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Labour ministers and MPs have launched an “anyone but Ange” campaign to keep Angela Rayner out of 10 Downing Street, according to reports. The former Deputy Prime Minister is said to be considering launching a leadership challenge against Sir Keir Starmer after next week’s local elections, where Labour is set to face a drubbing.

But some Labour MPs fear the party could end up “sleepwalking” into a Rayner premiership if she gains early momentum. They are concerned that if she secures enough support among MPs to reach the final two she would easily win with the membership and then shift the party to the left.

One minister told the Times: “A lot of us are saying ‘anyone but Ange.'”

Another Labour MP added that there was “a big … ‘anyone but Ange’ sentiment”.

Ms Rayner and Health Secretary Wes Streeting are widely seen as frontrunners to succeed the Prime Minister.

It comes as the Ashton-under-Lyne MP, who quit last year in a row over her tax affairs and is waiting for a HMRC investigation to conclude, has made a series of public interventions over Labour’s direction.

In her latest comments in an interview on The Rest is Politics Podcast, she revealed her 29-year-old son was struggling to make ends meeting despite working “really long hours” to support his family.

She added: “That is not a system that Gen Z should have to accept, because I think that is the long drag on the economy.

“I think it’s a long drag on our wellbeing as a country, when we push and punch people down and they feel that, no matter how hard they work, the system is going to be rigged against them.”