2nd Feb 2026 07:26
(Alliance News) - UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has suggested former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has a "future role to play" in government.
Rayner resigned in September after it emerged she did not pay enough stamp duty on an GBP800,000 flat in Hove.
Labour's former deputy leader remains a popular figure within the party and Starmer said he wanted to bring her back to the front line "at the right point".
Rayner, the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, is viewed as a potential successor to Starmer or, if she did not run herself, as someone whose support could have a significant influence on the outcome of any contest.
"I would like to have Angela back at the right point. I've always been clear she has a future role to play," the prime minister told Times Radio.
"She played a huge part in the achievement that we got at the last election; getting elected, we've just passed the Employment Rights Act, which has got her fingerprints all over it."
By David Hughes, PA Political Editor
Press Association: News
source: PA
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