Rayner: will Labour lose its beacon of hope?
Many in the crisis-ridden British Labour Party had high hopes for her. Now Angela Rayner has had to resign from her posts as Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing because she paid too little land transfer tax on a property. UK media assess the affair also in view of her social background.
No special treatment
The Daily Telegraph is incensed by those who claim that Rayner was brought down by the Conservative elite because of her social background:
“The point is that as the occupant of one of the senior positions in the Government she should be accountable just as anyone else would be in her role. ... Why should she be immune from scrutiny because she is northern, working-class or a woman? People who take on the job of a minister with its trappings of office and power cannot expect a free pass because they left school at 16, any more than those who went to Eton should be shielded by the Establishment.”
This need not be the end
The Guardian keeps its fingers crossed for a comeback:
“[Rayner's] achievements went beyond policy; she spoke to voters in ways that few colleagues could. Her story had a talismanic quality - from teenage mum on a Stockport estate to trade unionist to deputy prime minister. She embodied the promise of Labour's politics in a manner no one else could match. Yet error need not be terminal. If a minister takes the hit early and with contrition, they may be able to rebuild their career once public anger cools.”