Starmer may have failed miserably but here's why replacing him with Rayner would be height of stupidity for Labour

The Sun

11-07-2025

THE collapse in the authority of Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Government has been the most dramatic in modern political history.
Elected with a crushing majority exactly one year ago, the Prime Minister and his beleaguered Cabinet are now sinking in the mire of unpopularity.
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On every front they are ­failing miserably.
They have driven up taxes and driven down employment.
They promised to 'smash the gangs' of people-smugglers, but the only thing they have smashed is the record for the number of illegal migrants crossing the Channel.
They have performed so many U-turns that their ­government is in danger of going down the S-bend.
Yet there is a far worse prospect for Britain than the continuation of Starmer's ­ineffectual administration — and that is the potential succession by his loud-mouthed deputy Angela Rayner, an aggressive, left-wing ­partisan who has openly called Tory MPs 'scum', has demanded more taxes on the wealthy and wants more powers for the trade unions.
'I make no apologies that we will work hand-in-hand with trade unions to deliver a real partnership based on mutual respect,' she said to huge cheers at the 2023 TUC conference.
If Starmer departs and Rayner becomes PM, our country will be plunged back into the dark days of the 1970s, when the unions regularly brought Britain to a standstill with reckless industrial action
Rayner's opportunity arises because speculation is rife at Westminster over the immediate future of the PM, as he limps from one crisis to another — an increasingly weak, diminished figure.
Legacy of Corbyn
The recent rebellion over welfare reform not only left a huge black hole in the ­Treasury's balance sheet, but also demonstrated how little ­loyalty he inspires in the ­Parliamentary Labour Party.
As Tory former Chancellor Norman Lamont famously said about John Major, Starmer is 'in office but not in power'.
His Government lacks a sense of purpose, his party a sense of unity.
PM vows to drastically increase the numbers of channel migrants sent back to France
The welfare row proved that the legacy of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership is much stronger in Labour's ranks than many ­critics recognise.
Corbyn himself, who was expelled by Starmer from the party but ­subsequently easily retained his Islington North seat when he stood as an independent in 2024, is being urged by supporters to launch a ­radical new party to challenge ­Labour from the Left.
Indeed Zarah Sultana, the hardline MP for Coventry, last week announced her resignation from ­Labour in advance of the creation of this party.
It is now likely that some kind of new socialist grouping will soon be formed.
That will be bad news for Starmer, since such a party would siphon off support from left-wingers.
One poll last week showed that a new Corbynite grouping could attract no fewer than 20 per cent of voters.
Starmer in terrible bind
If Starmer tried to counter that by shifting to the left ­himself, then he would alienate traditionalist, centre-right voters who could go over to Nigel Farage's Reform UK.
So Starmer is in a terrible bind. He is like the driver of a school bus who was never very sure of the route he was meant to take, but now has to cope with the pupils in open mutiny, condemning his driving and urging him to go in different, even opposite, directions.
But what makes his position even more precarious is the threat he faces from his own Deputy Prime Minister.
Ferociously ambitious, ­ Rayner is by far the most dangerous rival for his crown, especially with Chancellor Rachel Reeves badly undermined by her ­mishandling of the economy and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper bogged down with the immigration fiasco.
By contrast, the two biggest issues that Rayner has in her portfolio — the homebuilding programme and the strengthening of trade union rights — are highly popular with MPs and party members.
There are other reasons why ­Rayner is the darling of the activists.
One is her uncompromising, left-wing outlook, which made her invaluable to Corbyn and also ensured she easily won the ­deputy ­leadership contest in 2020.
Another is her perceived authenticity, which reflects her tough upbringing on a council estate.
She is no slave to convention, as shown by her willingness to go raving in Ibiza even as a Cabinet Minister, and by her unorthodox, on/off ­relationship with hard-Left former MP Sam Tarry.
A third factor is her background as an official with the ­public sector union Unison.
Don't be fooled by yesterday's vote by Unite to suspend her over the Birmingham bin strike — she's a union sister through and through.
'I was born in Stockport but raised in the union movement,' she is fond of saying — just the sort of slush that appeals to Labour ­sentimentalists.
Embroiled in controversy
Last year she was embroiled in controversy following Tory claims she had dodged capital gains tax on the sale of her council house.
She said she would quit if found to have broken the law.
Police, the local council and HMRC ­investigated but concluded she had done nothing wrong.
Self-confident and proud of her striking looks, Rayner is a formidable operator who regularly outmanoeuvres opponents.
In May 2021, for instance, after Labour's disastrous Hartlepool by-election, Starmer tried to demote her but ended up enhancing her status with additional responsibilities.
While the Labour Left might cheer at the thought of this unreconstructed socialist in No10, rule by Rayner would be a disaster for Britain
In the same manner, she emerged as the key player from the mess of Labour's discord over the Welfare Reform Bill.
She tried to broker a settlement with the rebels, while she used her knowledge of her ­colleagues to give Downing Street accurate predictions of how the votes would go — thereby saving the leadership from a humiliating defeat.
'Angela's had a good war,' said one Labour MP.
Following the withdrawal of the most contentious elements of the legislation, Rayner boasted that ­'Labour is now in a better place'.
She is certainly in 'a better place' herself. With the ­premiership almost within touching distance, she is the real power behind the throne.
Failed socialist recipe
As Sir Keir stumbles, her stature grows, so she could soon become only the third Deputy PM to reach the ­summit.
But while the Labour Left might cheer at the thought of this unreconstructed socialist in No10, rule by Rayner would be a disaster for Britain.
The state would become larger and more authoritarian, while woke ­ideology and union bullying would return with a vengeance.
In fact, Rayner wants to make it easier for unions to organise walkouts by repealing a host of legal restrictions.
Striking 'is a ­fundamental freedom that must be respected,' she says.
Other glimpses into a future ­Rayner premiership can be found in her present work, such as her ­controversial attempt to draw up a legal definition of Islamophobia, which will serve as a shield for zealots and a wrecking ball for free speech.
The same threat to liberty can be found in her current Employment Bill, under which a network of ­officials — nicknamed the Banter Police — could be recruited to ­monitor conversations in pubs and workplaces for non-PC content.
It is a measure that belongs not in Britain but the East Germany of the 1970s.
The last person we need in Downing Street
In the same vein, she has pledged to introduce a new 'Race Equality Act' that will involve the usual burdens of official interference, including ethnicity pay audits and diversity training programmes.
Like so many left-wingers, ­Rayner loathes imperialism but loves bureaucratic empire-building.
Rayner's Britain will be filled with quangos, government ­centres, agencies and regional offices, all paid for by rising taxes as our country slides towards bankruptcy, and ­anyone with money emigrates.
Tellingly, during the internal debates over spending cuts, Rayner sent Reeves a memo urging her to hammer the wealthy and corporations.
The Deputy PM likes to think she is very clever, and is often underestimated because of her broad Stockport accent.
But her socialist recipe has been tried before and failed catastrophically.
To think it will now work in indebted, fractured Britain is the height of stupidity.
She is the last person we need in Downing Street.
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