Angela Rayner just showed Labour MPs what they're missing

The day after Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted Angela Rayner back in the cabinet, she showed Labour MPs what they've been missing.

The former deputy prime minister delighted Labour backbenchers with a powerful Commons speech defending her workers' rights legislation on Monday evening. With the House of Lords locked in a battle of parliamentary "ping pong" with MPs, she told ministers: "Now is not the time to blink or buckle." Her very public intervention came amid claims that her next move has the Labour Party on tenterhooks and that she's the favourite to succeed Sir Keir if she wants the job.

And her speech, delivered from notes and clearly meticulously prepared, appeared to send a message to Labour MPs: I'm here to make a comeback. Exclusive: Starmer would lose leadership contest The government's flagship Employment Rights Bill was championed by Ms Rayner when she was deputy PM, in the face of bitter opposition from the Conservatives.

In a bid to end the deadlock with the Lords, ministers have backed down on unfair dismissal protection from day one, proposing a compromise of six months. Backing the compromise, brokered with the TUC, Ms Rayner said: "I know ministers had faced difficult decisions and difficult discussions with the employers and worker representatives.

"But I strongly believe that the work that has been done has been necessary, and we should be able to move forward now." 'No excuses' Attacking the upper chamber for delaying the legislation, she said: "There is now no more time to waste. "Vested interests worked with the Tories and the Lib Dems and, cheered on by Reform and backed by the Greens, to resist the manifesto on which we were elected.

"And now there can be no excuses. We have a mandate for a new deal for working people, and we must, and we will deliver it.

And she concluded: "It has been a battle to pass this bill, but progress is always a struggle that we fought for. Its passage will be a historic achievement for this Labour government.

"It will benefit working people now and into the future. Now is not the time to blink or buckle.

Let's not waste a minute more. It's time to deliver." Could she replace her old boss? It was the sort of fighting talk and defiance of the government's opponents that will have cheered up Labour MPs and boosted her hopes of a comeback and even a leadership bid.

Speculation over Sir Keir's future grows more frenzied by the day, with claims that even some of his own supporters have begun the hunt for his successor. The thinktank that ran his leadership campaign in 2020, Labour Together, is reported to be canvassing party members on candidates to replace him.

There was even a claim last week that allies of Wes Streeting were sounding out Labour MPs about a pact with Ms Rayner and a joint ticket for the leadership. The health secretary dismissed that claim as a "silly season story.