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1 hour ago
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It’s been quiet. Too quiet. There was a time, not so long ago, when Angela Rayner was being widely tipped to be the UK’s next prime minister after Keir Starmer. Not least by sources – ahem – extremely close to Ange herself. Just as soon as she had settled her outstanding tax bill to HMRC.
Then along came Andy Burnham. The momentum seemingly unstoppable. And Angie faded into the background. Her leadership challenge consigned to the dustbin of Westminster gossip. She was happy where she was. Turning down Keir’s offer of becoming health secretary while hoping for a more permanent promotion under Andy. They also serve who only stand and wait.
On Monday morning the silence was broken when Rayner sat in for radio presenter James O’Brien’s three hour show on LBC. It was, though, as she herself admitted, a rather delicate Ange who took command of the microphone. She had been up all night watching the football, had taken the rammed 6.50 train to London and was already suffering from the heat. “I’m a ginger from Manchester,” she explained. “We don’t like the good weather.” Nor the cold weather. She wasn’t much enjoying the air-conditioned studio either.
Having made her introductions, Rayner gave us her wishlist for the next three hours. The football had put her in a good mood. So she wanted to keep the show positive. Full of optimism. Employers should offer their staff unlimited flexibility to watch as much of the World Cup as possible.
“What can the government do to make us happy?” she asked. Well, Keir could probably have a word with Donald Trump to petition Fifa president Gianni Infantino to ban Erling Haaland from the tournament. On the grounds that he’s too large. And while he’s about it, Infantino could rescind Jarell Quansah’s red card and give England a three goal start against Norway next Saturday. After that, we’ll think about having Lionel Messi imprisoned on spurious drug trafficking charges. Just think how happy we would be with that.
That was about the last we heard of optimism and hope for the next hour. Ange wasn’t about to imitate O’Brien’s 25-minute monologues: instead she went straight to answering calls. First up was Abdi from Tower Hamlets. He wanted to know what the government’s foreign policy on Somaliland was. You could sense the panic in Angie’s voice. She didn’t have the first idea what the policy was. Or if there even was one. This wasn’t the call to ease her into the show she had been hoping for. She played for time. We needed to work with all parties, she said. People feel they haven’t had change. We need optimism.
“We’re going for our first break,” she announced. Even though we were barely 10 minutes into the programme. Only we weren’t going for a break. We were heading for dead air. Someone had pressed the wrong button. After 10 seconds of radio silence, Ange was back with Abigail from Dewsbury. A force of nature. Possibly the angriest woman in Dewsbury. She had a lot to get off her chest. “LISA NANDY USELESS WHY GET OFF TWITTER WHEN SHE SHOULD BE BANNING TWITTER JD VANCE RUBBISH KEIR STARMER NOT A PRIME MINISTER RECLAIM THE FLAG NOT ENOUGH PRISON SPACES … ”
Ange gently faded the volume until Abigail was no more than an echo. “I love your energy,” she said, optimistically. It’s hard to get to see a doctor, she added, even though the NHS hadn’t featured on Abigail’s long list of complaints. Perhaps it would have done if she had been given more time.
Next came Luke, who said he wanted to be optimistic but it was difficult when he was being asked to pay so much tax. Rayner agreed. It was awful. Employers’ national insurance contributions and VAT were killers. She seemed to have forgotten that she was part of the government that regulated fiscal policy. It wouldn’t have come as much of a surprise if she had phoned in to have a moan and ask her presenter self why things were so bad. The ultimate mind-body split.
At which point, the producer must have suggested that the first 45 minutes of the show had been a little dull. Why didn’t she talk about Nigel Farage being bankrolled by both a Thai crypto billionaire and a convicted fraudster? This was surely going to be the money shot. The old Ange would have gone to town on this for the remainder of the show. Only it turned out she had nothing to say about Nige. No opinions whatsoever. Just stuck to the bare facts of the newspaper stories. No sense of fun. No outrage. Maybe she was more sleep deprived than she had been letting on.
Simon from Bath then wanted to know what Andy Burnham thought about electoral reform. Ange didn’t really have a clue about that either. It wasn’t in the manifesto, so he wouldn’t be doing anything any time soon, but she felt sure Andy was listening and wanted change. She also felt sure that Andy wanted to change the care system – a subject which Ange knows well and which dominated the second hour. Then again, no one really knows what Andy wants. Mainly because Andy doesn’t seem to know himself. Or if he does, he isn’t telling anyone. Yet again, Rayner felt at a loss to explain why nothing had been done about social care. If only she knew someone in government.
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Still, by now Ange was beginning to relax a bit and, in the last 20 minutes of the show, declared that she wanted to talk about Fifa. Always the C-word in our house, she said. I’m hoping the C was for corrupt. Infantino makes Sepp Blatter look like a paragon of virtue. But even now, Ange was unrelentingly bland. Vanilla even. Restricting herself to mild statements of the obvious. As if she was going out of her way not to make news. Desperate not to say anything that might prejudice a promotion under Burnham.
Just in time we had John from Scotland on the line. Saving the best till last. “I’m unhappy,” he mumbled. “I glad to hear you’re happy,” said Ange. “We need some positivity”. “I SAID I’M UNHAPPY,” John corrected her. He had been supporting Mexico. He had had enough of the English patronising the Scots just for qualifying for the finals. After all, a quarter of the countries of the world had. He also had no time for Fifa, Alan Shearer and the peace prize.
“I hope you get beat by Norway,” John signed off. Hooray for John. The lifeblood of talk radio. A Scot unashamed of his rivalries. Like Spurs fans cheering an Arsenal defeat. We could have done with more of that from Ange. Her USP has always been her authenticity. That’s what has made her special. Has endeared herself to the country. Her refusal to be an identikit party stooge. Let’s hope this show was just a one-off. There’s enough beige in Westminster.
