Angela Rayner has landed the key post of shadow housing secretary in Labour’s reshuffle, giving her a heavyweight domestic brief.
Labour’s deputy leader also becomes the opposition party’s shadow minister for levelling-up and communities, replacing Lisa Nandy, who moves to international development.
The move for Rayner, who also becomes shadow deputy prime minister, is widely being seen as a promotion, as Labour leader Keir Starmer gets his top team in place before the next general election.
Labour looks set to make housing a major plank of its campaign for the general election, which must come by the beginning of 2025.
In July, the party held a mortgage summit with brokers and other property professionals focused on rising housing costs, led by shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and the then shadow housing secretary Lisa Nandy.
In May, Starmer said he would green light building homes in the country’s green belt as part of his plans to prioritise housebuilding if voted into power, a move which the government has vetoed.
In the same month the opposition party also said it plans to use compulsory purchase orders to force landowners to sell plots at substantially lower market prices to force down housebuilding costs in England if they win the next election.
Rayner’s new role comes after reports in 2021 that Starmer unsuccessfully tried to sideline her to other roles, which led to tensions between their party supporters.
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