Angela Rayner risks row with Keir Starmer after Labour deputy leader goes public about her relationship to ‘soulmate’ MP boyfriend Sam Tarry during sickly tribute as he battles deselection vote by local members
- Angela Rayner claims it would be a ‘tragedy’ if Sam Tarry was no longer an MP
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner has risked a row with her boss Sir Keir Starmer after she spoke out in support of her ‘soulmate’ MP boyfriend Sam Tarry.
Ms Rayner, who has previously been reluctant to publicly confirm her relationship with Mr Tarry, paid tribute to her partner as he battles against his deselection by local Labour members.
Speaking at a fundraising event last night, the 43-year-old claimed it would be an ‘absolute tragedy’ if Mr Tarry, 40, was no longer a Labour MP after the next general election.
Mr Tarry, MP for Ilford South, was sacked as a Labour shadow minister by Sir Keir in July following a row over a TV interview he gave from a picket line outside a train station during rail strikes.
He was then deselected by local Labour members in October after they voted for a rival candidate to contest the Ilford South seat at the next general election.
Mr Tarry, who described himself as ‘utterly crestfallen’ by the vote, has since battled against the outcome and lashed out at a ‘manufactured political circus’.
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner has risked a row with her boss Sir Keir Starmer after she spoke out in support of her ‘soulmate’ boyfriend MP Sam Tarry
Ms Rayner has previously been reluctant to publicly confirm her relationship with Mr Tarry, the Ilford South MP
Mr Tarry was sacked as a Labour shadow minister by Sir Keir in July following a row over a TV interview he gave from a picket line outside a train station during rail strikes
In October, Mr Tarry was snubbed by local Labour members as their general election candidate in favour of Jas Athwal, who is the leader of Redbridge Council
The former trade union officer, who helped organise Jeremy Corbyn’s successful Labour leadership campaign in 2016, questioned the ‘integrity’ of the result and demanded the party hand over ‘full information’ about who voted.
He had previously instructed lawyers in a failed attempt to halt the deselection process.
At the fundraising event at the Praba Banqueting Suite in Ilford, east London, last night, Ms Rayner risked a row with party officials by offering fulsome support for Mr Tarry.
In video footage of the event published by the Guido Fawkes website, Ms Rayner said: ‘He is one of the most kind-hearted, amazing individuals I know and he’s also my soulmate. He’s a really good guy.
‘And I actually think you’re incredibly lucky to have him as your MP because I get to see a lot of Sam, and I get to see a lot of behind the scenes, and I see how much he cares.
She added: ‘I hope that he continues because it would be an absolute, absolute tragedy for the Labour Party to lose someone like Sam as an MP and I think we need to fight for that.’
Mr Tarry, who arranged last night’s gala dinner to raise funds for ‘local causes and campaigning’, was snubbed by local Labour members as their general election candidate in favour of Jas Athwal, who is the leader of Redbridge Council.
Senior Labour MP Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, backed Mr Athwal’s campaign to be the party’s Ilford South candidate at the next election.
Sir Keir sacked Mr Tarry as shadow transport minister last summer for doing interviews ‘without permission’ and ‘making up policy on the hoof’.
Mr Tarry’s appearance outside Euston station in support of striking rail workers came in defiance of the Labour leader’s ban on party frontbenchers joining picket lines.
Ms Rayner was married to Mark Rayner, a trade union official, before they separated in 2020.
She has three children and became a grandmother in 2017 at the age of 37, which saw her dubbed ‘Grangela’.
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