Angela Rayner has broken her longstanding silence over her boyfriend Sam Tarry’s deselection as the Labour candidate for Ilford South. At a fundraising dinner last night in Ilford, Rayner poured her heart out for her partner and “soulmate“, claiming she “hope[s] he continues” as a Labour MP and that it would be “a tragedy” to lose him:

“We’ve got to challenge ourselves, we’re a big Labour family, and like any family, we can fall out at times and have difference of opinions – but we’ve got to get rid of the Tories… Sam [Tarry] is one of the most kind-hearted, amazing individuals and he’s also my soulmate so… he’s a really good guy. And I actually think you’re incredibly lucky to have him as your MP because I get to see a lot of Sam, and I get to see a lot of behind the scenes, and I see how much he cares… I hope that he continues because it would be an absolute tragedy to lose someone like Sam as an MP.”

This is despite Jas Athwal, the man who beat Tarry to the selection as Labour’s Ilford South candidate, receiving the backing of Rayner’s Shadow Cabinet colleague Wes Streeting. Not to mention Tarry also calling in the lawyers against the party in an attempt to thwart his re-selection battle last year. When Tarry lost, his camp accused the Labour Party of “dirty tricks” and vote rigging. Does Angie endorse that too? Is she showing a bit of leg to the anti-Starmerites?

Sam Tarry (“I am crestfallen”) is taking his deselection so well his camp are now donning their tinfoil hats and accusing the Labour Party of “dirty tricks” and vote rigging. That’s surely the only explanation for his losing the seat by 138 votes last night.

According to the Telegraph, Team Tarry are claiming around 20 of his supporters were turned away at the door yesterday as they hadn’t received ballot papers. Meanwhile Tarry himself is sulking around calling his loss a “manufactured political circus” and demanding assurances of “the integrity of the result.” Labour assure they have full confidence in the vote, and Jas Athwal won fair and square. You lost, Sam. What next? A Stop the Steal march on Southside? Make Ilford Great Again?

Sam Tarry’s battle to retain his Ilford South seat in the Labour re-selection civil war is exposing the gulf between the left and right of the party, right up to the Shadow Cabinet. While Angie keeps schtum over her boyfriend’s fight, her frontbench colleague Wes Streeting has declared who he’s backing: his personal friend, and Tarry’s direct rival, Jas Athwal. Awkward. 

Streeting is now listed as the first endorser on Athwal’s campaign page, writing:

“I’m proud to have served as Jas’ Deputy Leader and prouder still to call him a friend. Nobody is more qualified to represent Ilford South in Parliament.”

He’s also recently changed his Facebook cover image to a snap featuring the pair alongside Sadiq Khan, which is no coincidence.

As LabourList point out, Tarry’s already had the likes of Barry Gardiner and Kate Osborne out on the trail for him. Sir Keir himself is keeping quiet, although given he sacked Tarry as Shadow Transport Minister in the first place, it doesn’t take a genius to work out his likely preference. Guido also notices Sir Keir appears in a photo alongside Athwal on the latter’s website…