Rayner will play crucial role in general election, says Labour chief

Angela Rayner is an “enormous asset” to Labour and will have a “big role to play” in the general election campaign, the party’s election chief has said.

The comment by Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, provides an indication of why the party has stuck by the embattled deputy leader despite continuing questions over her former living arrangements.

Greater Manchester Police are currently investigating multiple allegations against Ms Rayner, including potential breaches of electoral law and tax matters relating to the sale of a property in 2015.

Ms Rayner has faced scrutiny about whether she should have paid capital gains on the sale of her council house on Vicarage Road, Stockport, owing to confusion about whether it was her principal residence or whether she was living with her then-husband at a separate address on Lowndes Lane.

Wrongly declaring her permanent address on the electoral roll would also have been a criminal offence, although legal experts have said she cannot be prosecuted in relation to this because the time limit for such action has passed.

Mr McFadden was asked whether he believed the questions hanging over Labour’s deputy leader had cut through to voters preparing to head to the polls in this Thursday’s local elections.

Mr McFadden, who is also shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: “I don’t know how much the public have followed the details of this.

“The Greater Manchester Police have to do their job and it’s right that they do.

“But Angela has said that she will give them the full facts, and, you know, I think I’m confident that she’s done nothing wrong.”

He went on: “Over and above that, as the campaign coordinator for the general election, I think Angela Rayner is an enormous asset to the Labour Party.

“I think she will have a big role to play in the general election campaign and I certainly want her to play a big role in the general election whenever it comes.”

Labour insiders regard Ms Rayner as an electoral asset because she is viewed as a good foil to Sir Keir Starmer’s more buttoned-up public persona.

Working-class northern lass

As a working-class northern woman who came up through the trade union movement, she is also seen as central to helping the party reconnect with former Labour strongholds which the party lost in the 2019 general election.

Ms Rayner showed off her combative campaigning style in last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions when, deputising for Sir Keir, she labelled Rishi Sunak a “pint-sized loser”.

Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister who was covering for Mr Sunak, suggested that she should resign over the row surrounding her council house.

Earlier this month, the Labour shadow minister, Jim McMahon, said he believed “a lot of people” would see the controversy surrounding Ms Rayner “as a storm in a teacup”.

A poll by YouGov found that just 5 per cent of adults in Great Britain said they were following the Angela Rayner story “very closely”, with 20 per cent following it “fairly closely”.

Twenty-eight per cent said they were following it “not very closely” and 24 per cent responded: “I am aware of the story but am not following it.”

A further 23 per cent answered: “I am not aware of the story.”

Ms Rayner has said she is “completely confident I’ve followed the rules at all times”.