The Labour Party's leadership race just got a whole lot more interesting. A website briefly went live in January, claiming to be Angela Rayner's campaign for the Labour leadership. But is it just a clever ploy or a genuine bid for power? Let's dive in and explore the intriguing details.
A source in the IT industry alerted The Guardian to the website, which appeared to be under construction. It was published, seemingly by accident, on a 'staging site' before being removed. The domain name, angelaforleader.co.uk, was registered within minutes of the apparent publishing error, and it was hosted by the same company as her official parliamentary site, Webfusion.
Rayner has denied any links to the website, with her team dismissing it as a 'fake' and her allies describing it as a 'false flag' operation. But the timing is intriguing, especially given the current turmoil within the Labour Party. Starmer's position is under severe pressure after the departure of his chief of staff and calls for his resignation from Anas Sarwar, Labour's leader in Scotland. The prime minister has struggled to contain anger over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, with some within the Labour party asking who might take over should he be brought down by the scandal.
Sources have told The Guardian that Rayner has been planning for a potential leadership campaign for months, including conducting private polling, raising funds, and discussing strategy. However, allies insist she had no intention of moving against Starmer. One ally suggested the site might have been created with the intention of leaking it online in an effort to damage her chances of a future leadership bid. 'This is a crass false-flag operation, obviously designed to undermine Angela. These sort of by-the-playbook dirty tricks would be laughable if this wasn’t so serious.'
But there was no indication that the site had been deliberately shared or leaked to journalists or political figures. The Guardian's source appears to have chanced upon the page during a brief window of availability, and it has not emerged via other routes in almost two weeks. The website's appearance comes at a moment of opportunity and risk for Rayner, whose ambitions must be balanced against the danger of appearing to undermine the prime minister at a moment of vulnerability.
The draft website featured pictures of the senior Labour politician along with the words: 'Angela Rayner is running for leader to fight for working-class Britain.' It had an endorsements page, as well as a form for party members to join her campaign and list their local constituency party. The menu across the top of the page had links including an offer to party members to 'get involved' – and then a yellow button for supporters to click to 'join the campaign'.
As the reader scrolled down the screen, it featured a picture of Rayner speaking at a podium, alongside the headline 'Why she's running' with placeholder content 'about Angela's vision for the Labour party and why she believes she is the right person to lead', as well as 'her commitment to working people and transforming Britain'.
The next section began with an image of the former deputy prime minister in conversation, with short biographical details of her early life, her time as a care worker and trade unionist, and then her political career. This included her entering parliament in 2015, rising through the ranks to become shadow education secretary, being elected deputy leader to Starmer in 2020 and then becoming deputy prime minister after Labour’s election victory in 2024.
Some have viewed her intervention in the row over the release of documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment as evidence of an attempt to position herself as an alternative as leader. Rayner’s camp has insisted she merely sought to help the government through a burgeoning crisis. She said she had warned Starmer privately that the appointment would be a mistake because of evidence Mandelson had retained his links with Epstein post-conviction, according to reports.
Rayner’s stock has risen among MPs in the last few months as she has spoken out to nudge the government on policy areas she views as her legacies, such as employment rights and leasehold reform, which are also popular with the Labour membership. But Rayner also faces the hurdle of an unresolved HMRC investigation into her tax affairs after her resignation as housing secretary last September. Some MPs believe she would not provide the clean slate the party needed.
Political advisers privately admit that any ambitious politician must prepare for a possible leadership contest long before it is publicly acceptable to do so. In some cases, supporters may seek to pave the way for a campaign without the direct involvement of the candidate themselves. So, is this a genuine bid for power or a clever ploy? Only time will tell. But one thing's for sure: the Labour Party's leadership race just got a whole lot more interesting.
