Angela Rayner has been described by Labour’s campaign chief as a major electoral weapon, but until this week the party has not been able to make full use of her.
Labour’s deputy leader has been facing questions about her residential past for several months while police investigate claims by the Conservative party that she may not have paid the correct amount of tax.
This week Greater Manchester Police ruled out her having a criminal record, and both the local council and HM Revenue and Customs said they would take no further action, meaning Ms Rayner was finally free to campaign.
“I will [be] “I’ve been powering a battle bus and going around the country campaigning for the Labour government,” she says gleefully. “I love campaigning and talking to ordinary people and I really feel like now is the time for people to want change.”
Despite her enthusiasm, she acknowledged the past few weeks have been tough. “It’s been very hard for me personally because I’ve never been in trouble and I’ve always tried to do the right thing,” she said.
“I was confident, but when the opposition uses this as a tactic to try to stop you from doing your job, it’s demoralizing. It was a complete distraction from the issues facing the people of this country.”
Mr Rayner did not condemn the police investigation, instead pointing fingers at the Conservative Party, which has used similar election tactics against Labour on multiple occasions.
“I’m more frustrated with the Conservatives. This isn’t the first time they’ve done this. They’ve done it many times. It seems to be a strategy they like to deploy. [police] I don’t think it’s acceptable for any political party to waste resources like that for political gain.”
She believes she was targeted in particular because the Conservative party sees her as a threat: “They know I’m a key electoral resource for their constituents. You know, I’m a Marmite. Some people may say they don’t like what I stand for, but I think most people know that I stand for fairness and I stand for giving people opportunity.”
Rainer has faced frequent coverage in right-wing media over her living conditions, her son’s birth certificate was published online and journalists have repeatedly knocked on her former neighbours’ doors.
“Freedom of the press is a really powerful and valuable part of our democracy and I’m very supportive of it. But I think with freedom of the press comes responsibility,” she said.
“People, [the media] I am not worried because no matter how you treat your various political opponents, the public sees through it.”
But she acknowledged her anxiety about journalists “peeking into my life”, saying: “Honestly, when you’re 44 and you think you’ve done nothing to make someone look bad, it can be pretty nerve-wracking.”
“I’ve lived my life. I’ve gone out with friends. I’ve had drinks. I’ve probably had boyfriends I shouldn’t have had. I’m not perfect. But my heart is in the right place and I want to do the right things.”
She downplayed the abuse she received as a result of the affair: “There’s always going to be abuse. There’s been overwhelming support because I think the public saw through to what was going on.”
Mr Rayner is seen as more left-leaning than Mr Starmer and stepped up the pressure on him by suggesting he “sees no reason” why Diane Abbott should not run for Labour.
But she denied the claim that only left-leaning candidates were blocked from running: “I don’t think this is a purge. I understand people are worried about that, but I don’t think only left-leaning candidates were purged.”
Rayner acknowledged voter apathy was a problem but said the “mood is changing” as people were tired of years of Conservative government.
“Apathy exists. I don’t deny it. I think 14 years of broken promises and unrealizable slogans are to blame. That’s why it’s important not to overpromise,” she said.
“How we act and get the country back on the right track will go some way to restoring trust in politicians.”
“But if you go to the polls promising things you can’t deliver, and then you fail to deliver on those promises, it just perpetuates a vicious cycle of despair as people feel that politics isn’t going to change their lives.”
Ms Rayner denied that key policies in her area, such as workers’ rights and urban planning reform, had been watered down, and suggested they had instead been more pragmatic.
“It’s not so much that we have to reevaluate it, it’s a practical issue of implementation,” she said. “It’s about making sure we do it correctly and in the right way so that there are no unintended consequences.”
Similarly, she suggested that while life for cash-strapped local councils would be easier than under a Conservative government, it would still be difficult because “there’s not going to be magic money trees suddenly appearing”.
She agreed that, like Starmer, she was a socialist: “Yes, socialism to me is about looking after each other. It’s about community. It’s about understanding that as well as being an individual you’re also part of a society and a community.”
Ms Rayner has often been described as the John Prescott to Mr Starmer’s Tony Blair, and she will kick off her Battle Bus tour on Friday by calling the former deputy prime minister to wish him well on his 86th birthday.
But she doesn’t plan to fully follow Prescott’s election strategy. “I have no intention of hitting anybody,” she joked. “But I hope no one tries to attack me with an egg. If we all follow the rules, nobody gets hurt.”
