Keir Starmer has made it plain that Angela Rayner will rejoin his top team, describing the Ashton-under-Lyne MP as “hugely talented” and “the best social mobility story this country has ever seen”. He told The Observer he missed his former deputy and confirmed she would be back. ITV News reported the comments on Sunday, 7 December.

For readers across Greater Manchester, the signal is clear: a prominent northern voice is set to return to the cabinet table. Rayner’s back‑story is well known in the North, and her presence has often given local campaigners and small firms the sense that someone from their streets is in the room when decisions are made.

Rayner resigned on 5 September 2025 as deputy prime minister, housing secretary and deputy Labour leader after the prime minister’s ethics adviser found she had underpaid stamp duty on a £800,000 Hove flat. Sir Laurie Magnus said she had “acted with integrity”, while concluding ministerial standards were not met. ITV News and Euronews carried the findings and the resignation letter.

In the party, Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell won the deputy leadership on 25 October with 54% of the vote, succeeding Rayner after a members’ ballot. As the BBC reported at the time, she promised to give members a louder voice; the Guardian noted turnout was 16.6%.

Rayner helped shape the Employment Rights Bill. But at the end of November ministers dropped the promise of unfair dismissal protection from day one, opting instead for a six‑month qualifying period after talks with business groups and unions. The Trades Union Congress accepted the compromise to get the bill through, according to detailed reporting by the Guardian.

She had prepared an amendment to bring forward the new right sooner, but withdrew it after discussions with Business Secretary Peter Kyle. Reporting today, the Guardian said she “dropped plans” to press the change.

Ministers now say six‑month unfair dismissal rights will start on 1 January 2027, with other measures such as day‑one sick pay still expected. For HR teams across Tameside and Oldham, that means revising contracts and onboarding policies well before next winter. The timeline was set out last week.

Senior figures have been publicly supportive of Rayner’s return. Cabinet minister Pat McFadden told Sky News he would welcome it, calling her “an enormous talent”, while stressing it remains “a decision for the prime minister”. Yahoo News carried his remarks.

For northern workers and small firms, Rayner’s comeback would put a familiar Greater Manchester voice back at the table as the bill moves into its final stretch. With Powell now deputy leader and Peter Kyle running Business and Trade, the government’s labour‑market package will be judged by delivery in towns like Ashton, Oldham and Stockport - not by Westminster noise.

No date was given for Rayner’s return in the interview, only the assurance that it will happen. For now she remains the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne and a pivotal voice on workers’ rights from the back benches - and, if Starmer’s promise holds, back in cabinet soon.