LONDON: Keir Starmer, the leader of Britain’s Labour party, announced a reshuffling of his top team on Monday as part of preparations to put the main opposition party in an election-ready stance, ahead of an anticipated ballot next year.
Starmer retained his most senior shadow ministers in their current positions while making notable appointments, including designating his deputy, Angela Rayner, as the spokesperson for housing, communities, and leveling up.
The move comes as the UK Parliament reconvenes following its 45-day summer recess, marking the final full yearly session before an impending general election. Most polls currently show Labour leading by double-digit margins.
Angela Rayner, a prominent figure on the party’s left-wing, assumed the role of deputy leader in 2020, the same year Starmer was elected to lead the Labour party. However, their respective positions were determined by separate votes of party members and registered and affiliated supporters.
Rayner, who hails from a working-class background in northern England, overcame early challenges, leaving school and becoming a young mother before eventually becoming the first woman to represent her constituency near Manchester.
UK’s Labour Leader Angela Rayner’s Career
Her upbringing and often forthright style stand in contrast to Starmer’s more reserved public demeanor. Starmer, a former lawyer and head of the prosecution service, and Rayner are sometimes viewed as having a complex relationship. Under party rules, Starmer was unable to remove her from the independently elected deputy leader position.
In 2021, Starmer removed Rayner as the party’s chair following significant losses in local elections but subsequently appointed her to the role of shadowing the Cabinet Office, considered the engine of the UK government.
As Labour increasingly focuses on the next general election, Starmer affirmed in a weekend interview that the party would not implement “across the board” tax hikes if it were to come to power. He specifically ruled out raising the current 20-percent income tax rate that the majority of Britons pay.
Rishi Sunak, the Conservative prime minister since October of the previous year, is obliged to call a general election by the end of January 2025 at the latest. He appears to favor waiting as long as possible, hoping that the country’s challenging economic conditions will improve following months of record inflation and the most severe cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
