Is this the cope with Angela Rayner that saved Keir’s pores and skin? Starmer tells MPs he may appoint a feminine first secretary of state in wake of Mandelson scandal
Sir Keir Starmer was today revealed to have told MPs he might appoint a female ‘first secretary of state’ and task them with tackling misogyny.
The Prime Minister held a meeting with female Labour MPs in Parliament as he bids to move on from the Peter Mandelson scandal that has rocked his premiership.
Sir Keir is now also facing questions over his handing of a peerage to his former spin chief, Matthew Doyle, due to his links to a convicted paedophile.
According to someone in the room at the gathering of the women’s Parliamentary Labour Party on Wednesday, Sir Keir said he would consider having a female ‘first secretary of state’.
It is a title that has sometimes been held by a Cabinet minister to signify their senioriy over all other secretaries of state.
Sir Keir does not currently have a first secretary of state, but the suggestion he could appoint a female MP to the role – as he attempts to fight off claims of a No10 ‘boys club’ – sparked speculation about a return to Government for Angela Rayner.
She was previously Sir Keir’s deputy PM and Labour’s deputy leader – as well as housing secretary – before being forced to quit her three roles in September last year over a tax row.
In December, Sir Keir insisted the ‘hugely talented’ Ms Rayner would one day be back in the Cabinet, saying she remained a ‘major voice in the Labour movement’.
Sir Keir Starmer does not currently have a first secretary of state, but the suggestion he could appoint a female MP to the role sparked speculation about a return for Angela Rayner
Ms Rayner was previously Sir Keir’s deputy PM and Labour’s deputy leader – as well as housing secretary – before being forced to quit in September last year over a tax row
Ms Rayner has twice demonstrated her sway within Labour circles in the past week.
She firstly led a successful revolt against the Government over the release of documents relating to Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, despite his links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Ms Rayner – despite being among the bookies’ favourites to replace Sir Keir – was then an influential voice as senior Labour figures rallied round the embattled PM when Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for him to go.
The public show of support for Sir Keir from Ms Rayner and others appears to have granted him a stay of execution, despite lingering doubts about how long he’ll be able to remain in power.
Dominic Raab was the most recent first secretary of state when he was effectively deputy to former Tory PM Boris Johnson between 2019 and 2021.
Damian Green, George Osborne and William Hague also held the title during the previous Conservative administration.
The last Labour minister to be first secretary of state was Lord Mandelson himself between 2009 and 2010, with John Prescott having held the title before him.
If Sir Keir did appoint a first secretary of state, it could prove complicated as he already has an official Deputy PM in David Lammy, while Lucy Powell is Labour’s elected deputy leader.
Labour grandee Harriet Harman urged Sir Keir to appoint a woman as first secretary of state.
She told The Guardian: ‘We need a complete culture change, and I think everybody recognises that. But it’s easier to say let’s change culture than to make it happen.’
The first secretary role would ‘turbocharge’ the Government’s pledge to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade, Baroness Harman said.
‘It would deal with culture change, but it would also hold every Government department accountable for what they are doing on women, and empower the work on women that’s happening in each of those departments,’ she added.
Speaking to LBC today, Ms Powell also said there was a need for a ‘culture’ change, adding: ‘In Cabinet this week, the advisers, Keir’s advisers who were in the room, every single one of them was a woman. That was really good for me.’
According to someone in the room at the women’s Parliamentary Labour Party meeting, Sir Keir understands that he needs to end the ‘boys’ club’ mentality in No10.
Asked if he was serious about ending the ‘boys’ club’, they said ‘I think he knows he’s got to’.
They said the PM said he would consider a suggestion to appoint a female first secretary of state tasked with tackling misogyny and the marginalisation of women.
There was also a suggestion put forward to make tackling misogyny a sixth ‘mission’ of his administration.
They said his appearance in front of female MPs and peers was ‘very positive’ and that Sir Keir was in ‘listening mode’.
Another source, however, said the applause was for the women in the room and described the atmosphere as ‘flat’.
