Labour will be out of power ‘for a very long time’ unless it ends civil war, Angela Rayner warns
Deputy leader says Keir Starmer does ‘cheese me off now and again’ – and calls for end to dull ‘magnolia politics’
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Your support makes all the difference.Angela Rayner has warned Labour will be out of power “for a very long time” unless it ends its civil war, and acknowledged the appeal of Boris Johnson’s “spicy authenticity” to voters.
Days after a bitter clash with Keir Starmer over her role at the top of the party, the deputy leader admitted her boss does “cheese me off now and again”, but insisted: “The bond hasn’t been broken.”
Ms Rayner said the Hartlepool by-election had been lost “before we even picked a candidate”, because voters’ mistrust of Labour runs so deep.
And, in what will be seen as a swipe at Sir Keir’s cautious style, she warned that dull “magnolia politics” will never bring the party back to power.
“I call it ‘magnolia politics’. Let’s not offend anyone, and have no opinion on anything. I think all parties were a bit [guilty] of that,” she told the Politico website. “And Boris just sort of cut through that.”
Acknowledging the appeal of the prime minister’s “authenticity”, she added: “The Angie Rayner at 18 would have liked someone a bit spicy, and willing to throw a grenade in – that’s why we like soaps, isn’t it?
“We like a bit of argy-bargy, or someone who is going to upset what the norm is.”
On Labour’s plight – after four successive general election defeats – Ms Rayner said the party had enjoyed some successes last week away from the by-election debacle.
But she said: “There is a small group that get the headlines that are just in a power struggle. And that’s nonsense – because we’re not in power in Westminster!
“And we won’t be in power in Westminster for a very long time, until we start realising that we look like bald men fighting over combs.”
She added: “I think it’s an emotional shift away from Labour that takes time to get back.
“We can’t just say, ‘OK, we’ve got a different leader – now vote for us’. It takes a lot longer to earn that respect back.”
Ms Rayner also spoke about her poverty-stricken childhood and how the challenges she faced as a single mother at 16 have made her more resilient.
“When these people are crying over a bad headline or something, I’m like – get a grip,” she said.
“Do you know how hard it is when your kid comes home and they say they need shoes, and you literally feel like your whole world has melted?”
She added: “You’re absolutely bricking it, because you’re like – what I’m going to do? I can’t borrow anymore ... I already owe money there. That is real fear.
“When it’s in your stomach, and it literally makes you feel sick, because you don’t know how you’re going to get to the end of the week. Not a bad headline: Get over yourselves!”
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