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Labour recriminations begin: Angela Rayner sacked as party chair

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The local election results are not over yet but the recriminations in Labour over the party’s bad results are already well under way. Following the party’s loss in Hartlepool as well as losses in various red wall councils, Keir Starmer has started to rearrange his top team. This afternoon the Labour leader made the bold decision to sack Angela Rayner as party chair and campaign coordinator. Rayner remains the party’s deputy leader – a role that was decided by the membership and Starmer cannot remove from her.

The reaction is so furious that Labour sources have come out to insist Rayner will still play an important role and could be given a new role

So, what’s going on? When the news broke, it was met with disbelief by MPs on both the left and right of the party. It’s a decision that appears to have unified the Labour party – but not in the way Starmer may have hoped. Given

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