Angela Rayner

For her role of Shadow Education Secretary, she was considered by some as a possible future Labour Leader. However, Rayner opted to not run for the Labour leadership in the 2020 leadership election, choosing to support her flat-mate Rebecca Long-Bailey, who came second to Keir Starmer, and instead successfully stood for Deputy Leader.

In the 2019 general election, Rayner successfully defended her Ashton-under-Lyne seat, being returned as Member of Parliament for the third time in 5 years. She was elected as deputy leader on 4 April 2020, replacing Tom Watson. She was appointed Chair of the Labour Party the following day.

In March 2019, Rayner revealed that she had fitted panic buttons at her home after rape and death threats were sent to her a few weeks earlier. In March 2020, she confirmed she had been suffering symptoms of coronavirus disease and was self-isolating following medical advice.

In an interview with Evan Davis of the BBC in 2018, Rayner said that her mother had been unable to read or write; a repeat of part of a tribute she made to her mother in 2016.

In a 2017 interview discussing her political beliefs, Rayner highlighted her pragmatism, described herself as being part of the "soft left" of the Labour Party. As shadow education secretary, Rayner has championed the policy of a ’National Education Service’, which would be modelled along similar lines to the UK National Health Service, as well as promoting an increase in funding to early years education. She has previously written that decreasing teachers' salaries would lead to shortages in those joining the profession.

In January 2016, Jeremy Corbyn appointed Rayner as a Junior Shadow Minister for Pensions, and later for Women and Equalities, in June. One month later, Rayner was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn as Shadow Education Secretary where she proposed the creation of a National Education Service (NES), modelled on the National Health Service (NHS).

On 1 July 2016, after a series of resignations from the Shadow Cabinet, Corbyn appointed Rayner to the position of Shadow Secretary of State for Education.

Rayner left secondary school aged 16 whilst pregnant and without any qualifications. She later trained as a care worker, eventually becoming a trade union representative within Unison, during which time she joined the Labour Party. Shortly after her election to the House of Commons in 2015, she was described in the media as being part of the Labour Party's soft left.

In 2014, Rayner was selected to become Labour's candidate for the seat of Ashton-under-Lyne, after the retirement of David Heyes. She won the seat at the 2015 general election, increasing both the Labour majority and its share of the vote in the constituency. She delivered her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 3 June 2015.

Rayner nominated Andy Burnham in the 2015 Labour leadership election, but the following year became one of just 18 Members of Parliament (MP) to back the incumbent Jeremy Corbyn against challenger Owen Smith in the 2016 leadership election.

The Guardian featured a lengthy profile of Rayner in 2012, as part of an article on a trade union officer's working life.

In 2010, she married Mark Rayner, a Unison official. She has three sons: Ryan, who was born when she was aged 16; Jimmy; and Charlie. Charlie was born prematurely at 23 weeks and Rayner says that the care he received demonstrated the importance of the NHS to her. Rayner lives in her constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne with her family. She became a grandmother in November 2017.

Angela Rayner (née Bowen; born 28 March 1980) is a British politician serving as Shadow First Secretary of State since 2020, and has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashton-under-Lyne since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, Rayner has also served as its Deputy Leader, Chair and National Campaign Coordinator since 2020. She was previously Shadow Secretary of State for Education from 2016 to 2020.

Rayner was born on 28 March 1980 in Stockport, Greater Manchester. She attended Avondale School in Stockport, leaving the school aged 16 after becoming pregnant, and did not obtain any qualifications. She later studied part-time at Stockport College, learning British Sign Language, and qualifying as a social care worker.