Angela Rayner’s treatment shows the double standards that punish the ambition of working class women

On 28 March 1980, a girl was born into a working-class family in Stockport. Raised in poverty on a council estate, she defied the odds to become Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Her name is Angela Rayner — and her resignation this week is more than a political moment. It is a stark reminder of the snobbery and double standards that still shape Britain’s relationship with class.

Rayner’s journey has always been a lightning rod for prejudice. Her accent, her appearance, her unapologetic pride in her roots — these have been weaponised against her by a media and political class that claim to represent ordinary people, yet recoil when one of them rises to power. To many, her departure feels like a cruel message: that no matter how high you climb, class contempt follows close behind.

Her resignation, prompted by her mistakenly underpaying stamp duty and thus breaching the ministerial code, was handled with integrity, and was the correct thing to do. She self-reported, cooperated fully, and stepped down — restoring a sense of ministerial responsibility absent for over a decade. Compare this with the evasions and cover-ups of Conservative ministers, and the contrast is stark. But the bigger story is how Rayner has been treated throughout her time in public office.

When she was photographed vaping on a boat, she was mocked relentlessly. When she danced behind DJ decks in Ibiza, she was branded irresponsible. When she wore designer clothes — purchased with her own money — she was vilified. Yet Nigel Farage smokes cigars on magazine covers and is praised for his “authenticity.” The message is unmistakable — working people shouldn’t aspire, shouldn’t enjoy success, shouldn’t step beyond the limits imposed on them.

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The hypocrisy is glaring. The Guardian reports that Farage channels income from GB News through a private company, paying corporation tax rather than higher income tax. He has previously been linked to a trust fund in the Isle of Man to reduce his inheritance tax. Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice has historically funnelled millions into the tax haven of Jersey. And the Conservatives have their own record, from Nadhim Zahawi’s murky settlement with HMRC to countless loophole-laden arrangements. These are not minor oversights; they are deliberate strategies to avoid paying their fair share.

Reform UK likes to brand itself the party of patriotism. But what could be less patriotic than tax avoidance? Millionaires lecture the public on thrift while dodging their obligations to the state. Their deputy leader, Lee Anderson, once claimed meals could be cooked for 30p — a soundbite that trivialises poverty and insults those living through it. Yet these are the self-styled champions of the working man.

Few politicians in recent memory have been subjected to such sustained personal attacks as Rayner. That she withstood them as long as she did is testament to her resilience — and to the popularity that made her such a threat to the right. After news broke of the investigation, her property in Hove was vandalised with graffiti. Online abuse directed at her, and worse, at her family, has risen sharply in recent days — emboldened by right-wing politicians seeking cheap political points. The contempt is laid bare.

Of course, Labour must do more and do it faster. Working people are still waiting for the transformative change they were promised. Rayner’s departure should be a moment for the party to ask itself how it protects working-class voices within its own ranks, and how it ensures social mobility is not just celebrated for a single figure but made real for millions. That means serious investment in education and skills, genuine action on housing, fixing the economy and implementing a tax system that ensures the wealthiest pay their fair share.

You only need to listen to Farage’s Party Conference speech this year to understand who he is seeking to protect. A key claim he made around how ‘rich people are leaving the country’ demonstrates Reform’s priorities. They aren’t seeking to help normal working people. They simply need their votes to protect the rich elite who they exist to serve. 

Angela Rayner represents everything that Nigel Farage and his ilk despise – a woman who worked her way from a council estate to the Cabinet table, carrying her politics with her. For the Labour movement, her rise remains a source of pride — and a reminder of the kind of social mobility we should be striving to make possible for the next generation.

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To every young working class woman out there who sees Angela Rayner as a role model – do not let the hate and bile deter you from this. Because across our country, there are millions of young people with huge potential but are being held back by a broken society that works against them. Angela’s story is one of hope and hard work, and regardless of the circumstances behind her departure from Government, her story stands strong.

If Britain is to become a fairer society, we must confront the double standards that punish working-class ambition and shield elite entitlement. Angela Rayner’s story is not just about one politician. It is a mirror held up to a nation still deeply uncomfortable with the idea that power might come with a Stockport accent. Her absence from government will be felt — but her example endures as a challenge to Labour, and to the country, to prove that social mobility can be more than a story of one exceptional woman.

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