Rayner warns Starmer that Gen Z are 'feeling hopeless' as she mulls bid to oust Prime Minister after local elections
Angela Rayner has warned that young people in Britain are feeling hopeless about the future in what is likely to be interpreted as a challenge to Sir Keir Starmer's policies.
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The ousted former Deputy Prime Minister has warned of the challenges which Generation Z (born 1996-2012) are facing in a rare intervention since leaving the frontbench.
Ms Rayner is reportedly weighing up a leadership challenge timed after an expected wipe-out of Labour seats at next week's local elections.
Drawing on the experience of her Gen Z son being forced to borrow money for dental treatment, Ms Rayner said that “more and more young people are feeling there isn’t an investment in their future now”.
Sir Keir's former number 2 added: “That whole generation at the moment feels, no matter how much you run on the treadmill, you are not going to make it.”
As the Renters Rights Bill, a package of reforms she shepherded through Parliament, takes effect, Ms Rayner also warned that the psychological impact of homeownership being out of reach and eye-watering levels of student debt make people feel “that they are pushed down, punched down”.
She said this feeling is “holding the nation back”.
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“They are in this trap of poverty, a system that feels rigged against them and they feel that nothing changes for them,” Rayner added.
“That’s why I’m always trying to fight for them because I believe politics does change people’s lives. It changed my life. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it does make a difference.
“But actually being part of that delivery of change, I think will make a huge difference. It will make a difference to the confidence of the economy. It will make a difference to the psychology of the nation.”
The comments are likely to be interpreted as a challenge to Sir Keir Starmer's leadership - which critics have said lacks direction and purpose.
According to The Times, the former Deputy Prime Minister's allies are telling her to "take advantage" of the predicted rout of Labour-held seats next week.
Ms Rayner, who resigned from the Labour frontbench amid a row over her underpaying stamp duty, is weighing a direct challenge to Sir Keir Starmer's premiership after the May 7 polls.
She is understood to be one of the most serious challengers to succeed Sir Keir - alongside Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Rayner's comments about her family mark a rare insight into her life as a mother and a grandmother.
She told the podcast that she had to act as a guarantor for her 29-year-old son's tenancy so he could rent a home for his young family.
She said: “He’s got no opportunity at the moment to buy a property. He works really long hours. He provides for his family. He’s on a very low income. It’s really difficult for him.
“He had a problem with his teeth. He had to ask me to borrow to get his teeth done. He was in a hell of a lot of pain. He’s trying to work. He’s trying to raise his family. He can’t even afford a dentist.”
She added: “It’s the psychology of my son having to come to me when he’s working, when he’s an absolutely brilliant dad, he’s looking after his family, but the psychology of him having to come to his mum or ask somebody else for help, that’s not a system that we should be enduring at the moment.
“That is not a system that Gen Z should have to accept because I think that [it has] a long drag on the economy, I think [it has] a long drag on our wellbeing as a country.”