Sir Keir Starmer has said the “hugely talented” Angela Rayner will make a comeback to his cabinet as he slammed “misogynistic” criticism of her.
Ms Rayner resigned as deputy prime minister, housing secretary and deputy Labour leader in September after an investigation found she had underpaid stamp duty on her seaside flat in Hove.
In an interview with The Observer on Sunday, the prime minister said that he missed Ms Rayner and described her as “the best social mobility story this country has ever seen”.
When asked if he missed his former deputy, Sir Keir said: “Yes, of course I do. I was really sad that we lost her. As I said to her at the time, she’s going to be a major voice in the Labour movement.”
Pressed as to whether she will be back in the cabinet, he added: “Yes. She’s hugely talented.”
He also hit out at the “misogyny” he said had played a part in the level of criticism she and chancellor Rachel Reeves have received in recent months.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch argued during Prime Minister’s Questions last month that any return for Ms Rayner should be on the condition that “she must pay back the £40,000 of property taxes she avoided”.
Earlier this week, a source close to the former deputy prime minister said she will “not be played like a pawn” after reports of a deal for her and health secretary Wes Streeting to run for the Labour leadership.
The source said “there is no vacancy and there is no pact”, after The Telegraph reported that allies of Mr Streeting were pressing Ms Rayner to sign up to a “joint ticket” for the top job.
Allies of Ms Rayner have previously slammed “false” claims that she is eyeing up a Labour leadership bid, with the ex-deputy PM insisting she has “not gone away” when asked about a return to frontline politics.
In a wide-ranging interview, Sir Keir also insisted that he had no intention of stepping aside before the next election.
He said: “When I took over the Labour party, everyone said to me, ‘you’re not going to be able to change the party’. We ignored that and carried on.
“Then they said to me, ‘you’re not going to be able to win an election’. We got a landslide Labour victory. Now, 17 months into a five-year Labour term, they say ‘you’re not able to change the country’.
“Every time we’ve been in this position, we’ve defied them. And that’s what I intend to do.”
