Emotional crowd give standing ovation to Angela Rayner comment - 'we need her back'

Wes Streeting won a standing ovation today at Labour's conference as he praised Angela Rayner, saying: "We want her back."

In an emotional moment the Health Secretary credited the former Deputy PM for her work on a fair pay agreement for social care workers. Addressing the £500 million investment for the first ever "fair pay agreement" for care worker pay he said: "There's someone else who's made a real difference too, who understands the struggle care workers face, because she was one.

"She brought that experience to the Cabinet table as the care worker who became our country's Deputy Prime Minister. Angela Rayner, this achievement is yours. Thank you. And we want her back as well." He added: "We'll definitely make sure she sees that. We need her back."

It comes just weeks after Ms Rayner was forced to resign as Deputy PM and Housing Secretary after admitting not paying enough tax on her seaside home in Hove.

The PM’s ethics chief Sir Laurie Magnus ruled she had broken the rules by underpaying stamp duty by £40,000 on the property in East Sussex. The watchdog said she had “acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service” but found she had breached the ministerial code.

She also quit as deputy leader of the Labour Party - forcing a contest, with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and former Cabinet minister Lucy Powell vying to replace her. Earlier this week the Housing Secretary Steve Reed, who replaced Ms Rayner at the department, also praised Ms Rayner as a "true working class hero".

Posting on X, Ms Rayner, who is not attending this year's conference in Liverpool, said: "Thank you Steve, and to all the delegates, activists and members who continue to be the lifeblood of this Labour Government. I’m sad not to be alongside you all in Liverpool this year, but I’m with you in spirit - and will continue fighting for working people.

In a letter to Keir Starmer earlier this month resigning from government, Ms Rayner said, “I take full responsibility for this error," adding: “I would like to take this opportunity to repeat that it was never my intention to do anything other than pay the right amount.”

She said the strain on her children from the row had become “unbearable”. Mr Starmer said she would “remain a major figure in our party” in a highly personal handwritten letter.

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