Revealed: Streeting, Rayner and the pact for No 10

Wes Streeting’s allies are pressing Angela Rayner to sign up to a “joint ticket” for the Labour leadership, The Telegraph can reveal.

Under the proposal Ms Rayner would be promised a Cabinet role and perhaps a return to being Deputy Prime Minister if she backs a future Streeting leadership run.

Multiple Labour sources have told The Telegraph that MPs close to the Health Secretary have made the pitch, allowing Mr Streeting to deny personal involvement.

Ms Rayner has also discussed the repeated approaches with several of her supporters.

However, a spokesman for Mr Streeting called it a “silly season” story and a source close to Ms Rayner said there was “no pact”.

The Health Secretary has long harboured hopes of becoming Prime Minister. Last month, he was forced to deny being on manoeuvres following briefings from Sir Keir Starmer’s allies.

Labour continues to poll at an average of 18 per cent of the vote – with one poll this week putting them as low as 14 per cent – far below Nigel Farage’s Reform on 27 per cent.

Mr Streeting, who is on the Right of the party, is not popular with Labour members, who will have the final vote on who replaces Sir Keir.

But Ms Rayner remains popular on the party’s Left despite her resignation following The Telegraph’s revelation she had dodged a £40,000 stamp duty bill. Her support would be crucial to any successful run for No 10.

Mr Streeting is understood to have told Ms Rayner last week in Parliament’s voting lobbies that the pair should have a catch-up soon, raising eyebrows among her allies.

A spokesman for Mr Streeting denied the claims, calling them “completely untrue”. A source close to Ms Rayner said there was “no pact”.

Six different Labour sources have described the proposal being pushed by the Health Secretary’s allies.

One Rayner supporter told The Telegraph: “There have been huge overtures, including very senior-level party people, basically wanting to broker a peace deal. She knows he would lose if she stood against him. He knows that too. It’s why they’re reaching out.

“His senior people in the party have said ‘this is the offer’. The offer is she can come back and have any job in the Cabinet she chooses.”

‘Wes-adjacent MPs sidle up to you’

A second source, a parliamentary figure on Labour’s soft Left, said the idea was a “joint ticket” or a “unity” pact.

The source said: “Every so often a Wes-adjacent MP will sidle up to you in the corridor or tea room and float the idea of a joint ticket with Wes at the head and Angela as deputy.

“And maybe big jobs for Ed (Miliband) or Louise (Haigh) or a seat for Andy (Burnham). When you hear that same line the sixth, seventh and 12th time, it begins to become suspicious.”

Another figure on the Labour Left, who spoke to Ms Rayner about the approach, said she was not sure about giving up on her own chances of securing the leadership in order to back his ambitions.

A Labour MP on the soft Left said Mr Streeting’s allies were pressing for a “coronation” with Ms Rayner by his side, but said there was “zero” chance of it happening.

Another source – not aligned with Ms Rayner – said a Labour MP had told them “as a statement of fact” that Mr Streeting’s allies were voicing the idea.

A government adviser added that the prospect of a deal was under discussion among her closest allies, including a current and former MP debating what he could promise to secure a pact.

In public, Mr Streeting has also praised Ms Rayner. At Labour’s annual conference, just weeks after her resignation, he called for her return to Cabinet.

‘People appear to be getting carried away’

A spokesman for Mr Streeting said: “This is a silly season story and completely untrue.

“Wes’s entire focus is on getting the NHS through this winter, and the only deal he’s interested in doing is with the resident doctors to avert strikes.

“People appear to be getting carried away and misinterpreting his support for Angela as something other than supporting a good person going through a difficult time.”

A source close to Ms Rayner said: “There is no vacancy and there is no pact.

“Amidst all the stirring and silly games, Angela is focused on representing her constituents and ensuring that this Government delivers. Angela is made of tough stuff and she will not be played like a pawn.”

Rayner allies widely believe the overtures from Mr Streeting’s camp are genuine rather than simply a product of loose speculation. Whether she acts on them, however, is not clear.

The former Deputy Prime Minister is said to be considering running for the leadership herself if the opportunity arises.

Earlier this week, she forced a change in government policy when ministers accepted her amendment to the Employment Rights Bill.

Multiple sources, including the leader of a major trade union, suggested the pact would never happen.

Left-wing MPs have long sought to thwart the leadership ambitions of Mr Streeting, who is on the moderate or centrist wing of Labour.

The exact offer supposedly on the table for Ms Rayner from Mr Streeting’s allies if he became leader appears unclear. It was variously described by sources as a return to the Deputy Prime Minister role, the offer of any Cabinet position, or a lifetime peerage.

The conversations are seen as preparations for when Sir Keir leaves Downing Street, rather than an attempt to oust him.

Mr Streeting denied plotting to remove Sir Keir last month in strident terms, calling it “self-defeating nonsense” and joking about Celebrity Traitors, insisting he was “a faithful”.

Downing Street said it did not brief reporters against Mr Streeting, but senior No 10 figures were sufficiently concerned by something to tell journalists Sir Keir would fight any leadership contest that was triggered.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]