Angela Rayner, like others in the party, is hugely limited by what she can say and do, such is the totally undemocratic grip the right-wingers have on Labour.
Starmer definitely made the right choice when he chose Rayner as deputy.
Not only was she elected by the membership, who obviously thought that she would make a good deputy to the man who claimed to be a radical socialist, but Starmer has deliberately sought to neutralise her influence.
Although Starmer has the overwhelming support of the Parliamentary Labour Party, many of whom easily despise Labour Party members more than they do the Tories, Rayner is nevertheless a formidable adversary.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/09/starmer-faces-backlash-over-sacking-of-angela-rayner-after-election-losses
Keir Starmer handed his biggest internal rival, Angela Rayner, a major promotion on Sunday night after a day of fraught negotiations, but sacked his shadow chancellor and promoted his close ally Rachel Reeves to the role, in a move set to further inflame tensions with the party’s left.
The reshuffle of Starmer’s shadow cabinet was derailed by a prolonged standoff with Rayner who was locked in talks with Starmer’s team for hours on Sunday after leaked plans to sack her as party chair and national campaigns coordinator triggered an outcry.
I am surprised that you didn’t know that inkster, it was quite a major story.
I agree that Angela Rayner has to a degree sold out, anyone in the upper echelons of Starmer’s Labour Party has, but she was elected by the membership and she has one redeeming quality imo, she hasn’t forgotten her roots.
You will still see Rayner standing shoulder to shoulder with trade unionists in dispute, and she will willingly speak at events staged by the organised labour movement, things which Starmer would shamefully never consider.