SUPPORTERS of Angela Rayner are ready for her to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership should the party lose the by-election in Batley & Spen today.
Allies of the deputy leader are reportedly backing a leadership challenge after months of dismal poll results.
MPs close to Rayner have already been canvassing support among parliamentary colleagues and trade unions, according to The Times.
A loss in Batley & Spen could spark an extraordinary power struggle within the party, with Rayner reportedly confident she can land the top job.
To do so she would need the support of 40 Labour MPs to trigger a leadership contest with Sir Keir – around 20 per cent of the party.
Starmer would automatically be on the ballot in the leadership election and the timeframe would be decided by Labour’s national executive committee.
An ally of Rayner told The Times: “There’s definitely been people sounding out the possibility — it’s clear she’d easily reach 40 nominations — and urging her to run if the worst happens in Batley.”
One pro-Corbyn MP also told the newspaper they had been approached by Rayner, adding: “Angela’s people are speaking to a number of comrades. Sections of the party would back her without doubt.”
The Batley and Spen by-election was triggered after Tracy Brabin, who won the seat for Labour in 2019 with a 3,525 majority over the Conservatives, was elected as the mayor of West Yorkshire in May.
Labour officials are pessimistic about their chances of securing the former seat of Jo Cox, who was murdered in the constituency in 2016. Her sister Kim Leadbetter is standing for the party in today’s poll.
Sir Keir has rebuffed calls to resign should he lose the by-election, insisting he will lead the party at the next general election.
But Starmer’s advisers will watch today’s vote nervously after losing red wall seat Hartlepool to the Tories last month, whilst also polling poorly in the Chesham and Amersham by-election.
It came as a new poll suggested that as many as four in 10 Labour members would want Starmer to stand down as leader if the party loses the by-election.
Some 48 per cent of members would back Sir Keir to remain in place despite a defeat in what was considered a safe seat, according to the YouGov poll for Sky News.
But 41 per cent said they would want him to stand down and make way for fresh leadership, with the rest being undecided in the survey of 871 members conducted over the past week.
Nearly 70 per cent said they would prefer Andy Burnham to be the new leader. He would be unable to immediately challenge Starmer as he is Mayor of Greater Manchester and no longer an MP.
Rayner tonight tweeted that the report of a possible leadership bid was “news to me”.
Responding to the rumours of a leadership bid, a spokesman for Rayner told The Times: “Anybody doing that [canvassing for support] is not doing it under instructions from Angela or with Angela’s backing.
“Angela is focused entirely on her jobs.”
