Angela Rayner condemns Labour infighting but does not rule out running for leader | Angela Rayner

Angela Rayner condemned the “arrogant chatter” and infighting in the Labor Party that dominated last week in her first major interview since her resignation.

The former deputy prime minister, often considered a potential successor to Keir Starmer, refused to rule out running for office or returning to frontline politics, saying he was “not going away”.

Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood also described last week’s leadership speculation as “shameful” and warned her party not to forget its privilege of being in government.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror in his constituency, Rayner criticized the briefing for health minister Wes Streeting, who has been accused by some of Starmer’s allies of plotting to challenge the prime minister.

“I think Wes has clearly set up his stand after what’s been a pretty tumultuous few days, and I think being here for the last hour actually shows you that that chatter in Westminster can seem almost arrogant when you get to the real challenges that real people face, and that’s what we really need to focus on.”

“I think the party should always be together,” Rayner said. “I’ve always had that nature, and the way I work within our movement is that our movement has many different views, and we should always try to commit ourselves to that view.”

Speaking on BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg program on Sunday, Mahmood said he hoped Starmer could now draw a line on speculation.

“I think what happened earlier this week is terribly disgraceful. It’s a deep shame for everyone in the government and I’m pleased the prime minister is dealing with this issue,” he said. “I think everyone should draw a line under what happened and move on because we actually have a very important job to do.

“We all have important, difficult work to do and as cabinet ministers we all need to focus on that work.”

Mahmood said it was unlikely anyone would be identified as directly responsible for the briefing, following a week of speculation about the position of the prime minister’s private secretary Morgan McSweeney.

“One of the challenges of these types of briefings is that it’s very difficult to find out exactly who is responsible, but I hope that the individuals who are responsible who are feeling great humiliation about what’s going on right now, that humiliation will serve as a reminder that they shouldn’t get caught up in a repeat performance,” he said.

“The Prime Minister has made his position very clear. He has set a tone for the government. None of this is acceptable. We all need to focus on the people who got us into government in the first place. It is an incredible privilege to be the government of this country. We are only given a few years at a time, and Labor governments have not come along so often in the history of this country. We have precious time. We must not waste a second of it.”