Angela Rayner

Angela Rayner     (politician)
Born	28 March 1980 Stockport, United Kingdom
Children	3 sons
Spouse	Mark Rayner
Party	Labour
British Labour Party politician who supported harsh lockdowns. Received "gifts" from TV mogul Waheed Alli.  Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom In office 5 July 2024 - Present  Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government In office 5 July 2024 - Present  Deputy Leader of the Labour Party In office 4 April 2020 - Present  Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office In office 9 May 2021 - Present Preceded by Rachel Reeves  Chair of the Labour Party In office 5 April 2020 - 8 May 2021 Preceded by Ian Lavery Succeeded by Anneliese Dodds  Shadow Secretary of State for Education  In office 1 July 2016 - 4 April 2020  Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities  In office 27 June 2016 - 4 April 2020  Member of Parliament for Ashton-under-Lyne In office 8 May 2015 - Present

Angela Rayner is a British Labour Party politician and a former trade union official who was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashton-under-Lyne at the 2015 General Election, increasing Labour's majority and share of the vote in the constituency.

On 4 April 2020, Angela Rayner was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, and was appointed Chair of the Labour Party and Labour Party National Campaign Coordinator on 5 May 2020. Following Labour's crushing defeat in the 2021 Hartlepool by-election, Keir Starmer relieved her of the two latter roles and appointed Angela Rayner Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office.

Election challenge

Aroma Hassan in the green jacket is WPGB's candidate who aims to unseat Angela Rayner

On 30 April 2024, the Workers Party of Britain announced the name of its candidate at the next election in the Ashton-under-Lyne constituency:

"Aroma Hassan in the green jacket is our candidate for Ashton. She is going to unseat Angela Rayner."

Parliamentary career

Angela Rayner delivered her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 3 June 2015.

Having previously been an Opposition Whip and Shadow Pensions Minister, Angela Rayner was promoted to Shadow Women and Equalities Minister on 27 June 2016. Then, when Jeremy Corbyn reshuffled his shadow cabinet following a string of resignations, she was appointed Shadow Education Secretary on 1 July 2016.

Rayner, as deputy prime minister, during a holiday to New York stayed in a flat provided by TV mogul Waheed Alli, and has separately received more than £20,000 from him.

Member democracy

On 17 July 2016, interviewed by Andrew Neil on BBC Sunday Politics, Angela Rayner was repeatedly asked whether she would vote for Jeremy Corbyn in the forthcoming Labour leadership contest. Rayner said she was against holding the contest but will listen to the membership and the democratic process and will continue to support Corbyn as the elected Leader of the Labour Party.

Angela Rayner tweeted:

"The reason I wouldn't answer who I'd vote 4 on today's #sundaypolitics is because my vote isn't the issue. To me it's about member democracy."

Education funding

As Shadow Education Secretary, she made a widely-praised closing speech in the House of Commons debate on uncapping University tuition fees on 19 July 2016. The following month, Angela Rayner announced a plan, including reversing several unpopular Conservative government decisions, that could win Labour the next General Election. Rayner said Labour will reinstate the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and maintenance grants for students from poorer families. Both these allowances were scrapped by former Chancellor George Osborne, who described the maintenance grants system as a "basic unfairness in asking taxpayers to fund grants for people who are likely to earn a lot more than them." Osborne's move was criticised by major charities, as well as student and teaching unions. Rayner said that it was:

"Disgraceful that the Conservative government abolished student grants that levelled the playing field for young people from low and middle income backgrounds. Opportunity taken from them is a loss to us all, leaving Britain worse off."

On 7 March 2017, in an interview with John Humphrys on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, Angela Rayner said she was disgusted by Theresa May's £3 billion cuts to the education budget. Paul Mason tweeted:

"The palpable discomfort & disdain in the BBC's voice when a working class woman gets to top tier politics, is why @AngelaRayner is trending."

COVID-19

Rayner supported harsh lockdown measures during Covid.

 

Event Participated in

Event	Location(s)	Description
UK/Parliament/Voted YES to vaccine passports in 2021	UK/House of Commons	These members of the UK Parliament voted YES to the introduction of a "vaccine" passport in 2021

 

Related Document

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