Rayner: We must prove to Labour heartlands we mean what we say

Speaking at a conference fringe event today at Labour conference, Angela Rayner warned that the political class – including the her own party – is losing the trust of the working class. “I think they’re fed up with us all,” said the Shadow Education Secretary, “and we’re trying to address that.”

“I think we’ve got a long way to go to prove to those heartlands – those Labour heartlands – that we mean what we say,” Rayner said. “But I think we’re starting to mobilise those forces.”

The Labour frontbencher also insisted that Jeremy Corbyn was reaching the people who felt alienated from Westminster. “When Jeremy talks, you know he has integrity,” she said, stressing her own determination to stay true to her working-class background.

“I try my best to stay true to who I am,” Rayner noted. “I sound like the people I grew up with.” Asked how long she is in London each week, she replied “as little time as possible” as she always hurried back to her northwest constituency to “absorb myself in all things Manc”.

In an interview with Guardian editor Katharine Viner, Rayner was warmly received by the audience. Attendees discussed the possibility of her being a strong candidate for the Labour deputy leadership, should a second position be created following the NEC recommendation.

Despite revealing that she had suffered “loads, loads” of sexual harassment as an MP, she said she loved speaking in the House of Commons, although acknowledged that women are treated differently there from male politicians. “I love it… I get really geared up like a boxer.”

Rayner described how flat the government benches now are: “Where’s your oomph?” she said she now wonders.

Describing how her own life showed the importance of Labour winning power, the Shadow Education Secretary said Sure Start parenting classes and Gordon Brown’s tax credits changed her life. “Labour is still the working-class party,” she said.