The Deputy Leader of the Labour party was brought up by a parent who could not read or write. After getting pregnant and leaving school aged 16, Angela Rayner became a home carer where she found her feet as a union representative, eventually rising to be Unison’s most senior official in the North West. Now she’s taking on the government over workers’ rights and cronyism; her battles no longer fought on the estate she grew up on, but from across the despatch box.

Originally published: 23rd September 2021