We walk down a corridor, past pictures of children jumping in puddles, and turn into a classroom. Angela Rayner, who grew up caring for her bipolar mother and left school, pregnant, at 16, is “the best social mobility story this country has ever seen”, Starmer says. Does he miss her? “Yes, of course I do. I was really sad that we lost her. As I said to her at the time, she’s going to be a major voice in the Labour movement.” Will she be back in the cabinet? “Yes. She’s hugely talented.” He thinks both Rayner and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, have suffered from misogyny at Westminster. “All politicians get quite a lot of abuse these days but for women it’s always worse.”
