Politics is about to get much tougher for Keir Starmer.
The Prime Minister has had his differences with Angela Rayner over the years and once even made a botched attempt to sack her when he felt she was getting too big for her boots.
But her forced resignation at the hands of the media is a devastating blow for a leader who only this week launched ‘phase two’ of his government in a bid to put the disasters of ‘phase one’ behind him.
Sir Keir and Labour’s ‘Red Queen’ could scarcely have been more different personalities. But in recent years the buttoned-up bureaucrat has come to rely on his flame-haired deputy who wears her heart on her sleeve.
Since entering government, Ms Rayner has acted as a reasonably loyal deputy – and provided a vital link to the Left of the party, which has struggled to come to terms with the realities of office.
