Angela Rayner has been warned that Brits continue to hold a ‘negative’ view of her – despite growing speculation she is poised to challenge Keir Starmer.
The former deputy prime minister last week used a speech in a Westminster pub to set out an apparent Labour leadership pitch.
She warned Labour is ‘running out of time’ to deliver change and cannot ‘go through the motions in the face of decline’.
Her intervention sparked fresh claims she is ‘on manoeuvres’ and could launch a bid to replace Sir Keir as Prime Minister following May’s local elections, in which Labour are expected to perform poorly.
But a leading pollster has told Ms Rayner she still faces a challenge in winning over voters following her tax row last year.
She quit as housing secretary, deputy PM and Labour deputy leader in September following her tearful admission she failed to pay correct stamp duty on a new flat.
Luke Tryl, the UK director of More In Common, said recent focus groups revealed the public verdict on Ms Rayner was ‘fairly negative’.
He also shared some examples of voters’ responses, with one saying: ‘Angela, there’s a lot of baggage there.’
Angela Rayner has been warned that Brits continue to hold a ‘negative’ view of her – despite growing speculation she is poised to challenge Keir Starmer
The ex-deputy PM last week used a speech in a Westminster pub to set out an apparent Labour leadership pitch, which sparked fresh claims she will launch a bid to replace Sir Keir
More In Common polling from last month found nearly half (48 per cent) of voters thought it would be ‘unacceptable’ for Ms Rayner to return to the Government
Another added: ‘I used to really love her, but I don’t think she’s got a hope in hell after what was pulled off with her tax’.
And a third said: ‘Well, she got caught for that. What else is she doing? You know what I mean? What else are they doing, these people who are hiding stuff?’
Mr Tryl also pointed to More In Common polling from last month that found nearly half (48 per cent) of voters thought it would be unacceptable for Ms Rayner to return to the Government.
This compared to less than a quarter (24 per cent) who thought it would be acceptable, while 28 per cent said they didn’t know.
Previous research by the pollster, in January, showed Ms Rayner’s net favourability among voters was -35, with only 14 per cent holding a positive view of her.
This made Ms Rayner less popular among voters that other leading Labour figures such as Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, new Labour depyty leader Lucy Powell, and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.
Only Sir Keir and Chancellor Rachel Reeves were more unpopular than Ms Rayner, according to the January poll.
Mr Tryl said it was ‘clear’ that people in Westminster had ‘moved on more quickly’ than the general public from Ms Rayner’s tax row.
‘The problem is the tax issue has cut at the heart of one of the public’s biggest frustrations with politics and politicians, the notion of ‘one rule for them’,’ he added.
‘So my view is that Rayner probably needs a bigger mea culpa moment (and potentially more time out) acknowledging it – perhaps explaining more and what she’d do differently.
‘Rayner’s biggest strength remains her authenticity and the fact she’s not seen as more of the same, demonstrating that and doing the sort of apology people don’t expect from politicians is probably necessary.’
