Angela Rayner has ruled out ever running for Prime Minister as she denied allegations she leaked a secret memo to boost her leadership chances.
The Deputy Prime Minister vowed she would ‘never’ go for Sir Keir Starmer’s job, insisting that she had ‘no desire’ to be Labour leader.
It emerged last week that Ms Rayner sent a secret memo to Rachel Reeves proposing eight tax hikes on savers and higher earners. It was seen as a direct challenge to the Chancellor’s preference for spending cuts over tax rises and a sign that Ms Rayner was ‘on manoeuvres’ to position herself as the centre-Left candidate in any future leadership contest.
It also sparked speculation that the leak was an attempt to hit back at Ms Reeves and Sir Keir amid a furious row over proposed deep budget cuts to her housing department in next month’s spending review.
Ms Rayner, who is also the housing and local government secretary, is at war with the pair because she is set to be one of the biggest losers from the review.
