Housing Secretary Steve Reed on Sky News this morning, asked if Angela Rayner should return to the Cabinet:
“I think in time. I think she did a great job, I’m a big fan and friend of Angela Rayner. She’s really good at communicating, can cut through to voters, she has a role to play.”
The Times reported last night that Labour MPs are plotting a Brownite-style ‘putsch’ after Thursdays local elections, with demands for Starmer to set a date for his resignation. Rayner’s allies insist she has the 81 MPs needed to launch a challenge. But no one wants to make the first move, yet…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”