Angela Rayner has denied claims that she threatened to quit over Labour’s target to build 1.5 million new homes in five years.
In an updated biography of Sir Keir Starmer, titled Red Flag, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary, is said to have been on the brink of quitting over the “impossible” target set by the prime minister Sir Kier Starmer.
The updated version of the book by Lord Ashcroft, the Tory peer and billionaire businessman, also claims that it was only an intervention by Sir Tony Blair, the former prime minister, that persuaded to her stay.
In October 2023, Sir Keir announced his party’s target to build 1.5 million homes within five years of Labour taking office – a key feature in the party’s manifesto for last year’s general election, which pledged to “get Britain building again”.
In Red Flag, Lord Ashcroft claims Rayner threatened to quit over what is described as the “impossible” goal. However, it is not clear when this is said to have happened.
As first reported by The Mail on Sunday and later The Telegraph, the Tory peer wrote: “She is still prone to stirring up trouble… one occasion she threatened to resign because she felt she’d been set the impossible target of Labour building 1.5 million new homes.
“It took a call from Tony Blair to talk her down – which, incidentally, tells you how important Blair is to the Starmer project.”
A source close to Rayner told The Mail: “We do not recognise the claims made. Angela is proud to be serving as deputy prime minister in Keir’s cabinet and delivering on Labour’s crystal clear commitment to build 1.5 million homes as part of our Plan for Change.”
Labour sources suggested that Rayner’s concerns about the goal were justified, with one telling The Mail: “The fact is we don’t have enough bricks and there isn’t enough water to supply these houses.”
A Labour MP told the newspaper: “I think Rayner realised a while ago that the 1.5 million new homes target is undeliverable. But now the penny’s dropped for Angie’s team that she was set up to fail on this all along.”
Earlier this year, Rayner admitted that she and the prime minister “don’t agree on everything” but insisted he wanted to do his best for the country.
