She’s now red-hot favourite to replace Keir Starmer as Prime Minister, and could be in Number 10 as soon as May. That’s barely three months away. It’s a terrifying prospect. And a shameful one too. Imagine Britain appointing a known tax dodger as PM. Yet that’s where we are. Rayner is streaking ahead of her rivals in the leadership race. The bookies have her odds-on favourite, comfortably ahead of Wes Streeting. The momentum is with her, and her rivals are falling away.
Starmer looks finished as his own MPs sharpen the knives. Some resent him for betraying Jeremy Corbyn’s legacy by making Labour electable. Most simply think he’s hopeless: weak, indecisive and blind to his own shortcomings. A solid leader with a large majority would have brought his party to heel. Under Starmer, it’s barking.
The PM might have survived the Mandelson scandal if the rest of his premiership wasn’t such a catalogue of unforced errors, botched reboots and humiliating U-turns. Someone has to replace him but there’s a problem. The alternatives are even worse. I argued yesterday that Labour couldn’t possibly swap Starmer for Rayner, which would involve replacing a serial liar with a suspected tax dodger. That was naive of me. Of course it can.
Rayner has a grip on the party’s left and the unions, and that’s what matters. Her supporters don’t care that she’s lectured the public on paying their fair share while wriggling out of her own tax responsibilities. To them, she’s ‘Red Ange’ who reckons the Tories are “scum”, and they adore her for it.
The coming leadership contest is going to be vicious. And Rayner’s camp is ready to play dirty. Wes Streeting is her main rival but has two fatal weaknesses. First, he maintains some mental contact with reality, which immediately disqualifies him in the eyes of many Labour activists. Second, he chose the wrong mentor. Peter Mandelson. Oops.
Streeting and Mandelson have been close allies for years, exchanging a steady flow of emails. Those communications may soon be released as part of the wider Mandelson disclosure, as police raid his properties. One Rayner supporter told The Times that Streeting is a goner gloating: “I’m sure more messages will come out and ruin him.”
If Streeting is finished, who’s left? Andy Burnham isn’t even in Parliament, blocked by Starmer. That leaves just one figure with a realistic chance of stopping Rayner. Brace yourselves. It’s Ed Miliband. He’s next on the betting after Streeting.
Yes, him again. The man the country decisively rejected a decade ago. Miliband polls strongly with activists, hoovering up the same left-wing votes as Rayner. He’s doing what they love: throwing vast sums of borrowed money at fantasy green targets, regardless of the economic damage.
Would Labour really force Miliband on the country again? Perhaps. Would he even want to throw his hat into the ring? It didn’t end well last time. But he’s the only figure who can halt Rayner’s march.
If socialist fantasist Miliband became PM, people would be queuing to leave the country. Emissions would surge with all the added flights, all of them one-way.
It would be just as bad under Rayner, with union power unleashed. Her hard-left Employment Rights Bill will add billions to business costs at a time when firms are already collapsing and unemployment rocketing. Red Ange? She’s more like Red Robbo.
The country may celebrate when Starmer finally goes, but they won’t like what follows. Probably Rayner. Possibly Miliband. Either way, it’s time to start checking flight prices.