Mugshots with Michael Crick

Angela Rayner: Labour’s working class hero

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Episode notes

Michael Crick profiles the people who shape our world. This time: Angela Rayner overcame horrendous poverty to become Labour’s Deputy Leader and now a potential future Prime Minister. Pregnant and thrown out of the family home at 16, she nevertheless fought her way to the Labour’s commanding heights. What built Angela Rayner’s formidable personality? And what does she want? Michael Crick speaks to friends and colleagues from her early days up to her Shadow Cabinet years to uncover a remarkable story of tenacity against the odds.

• “Angela’s parents gave her no hugs, kisses or love… the family couldn’t even afford hot water.” – Michael Crick

• “When her childhood friends went home for dinner, she’d be sitting outside on her own… because there was no dinner.” – Elise Wilson

• “She had no legal training yet she was handling two or three union cases a day. A lawyer would struggle to do that.” – Andy Verdeille

• “When Rayner entered Parliament in 2014, the woman from a chaotic home thrived in a chaotic Party.” – Michael Crick

• “A lot of people underestimate her out of sexism, class prejudice and her relative youth.” – Andrew Fisher

• “I personally would not want to make an enemy of Angela Rayner.” – Geri Scott

Angela Rayner ‘Scum’ audio, Labour Party Conference, The Mirror, September 2021

Mugshots was written and produced by Michael Crick and Jet Gerbertson. Additional research by Mathilda Walters. Audio production by Robin Leeburn and Alex Rees. Music by Jade Bailey. Group Editor for Podmasters is Andrew Harrison. Mugshots is a Podmasters Production.

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