Angela Rayner, 41, spotted outside her London home with new boyfriend Sam Tarry, 39, the married MP who ran her campaign to become Labour deputy leader
- 39-year-old Ilford South MP ran Rayner’s campaign to become deputy leader
- They were pictured by the Sun on Sunday leaving her taxpayer-funded home
- Tarry elected in 2019 with backing of Corbynite grassroots group Momentum
Angela Rayner’s romance with fellow Labour MP Sam Tarry was thrust out into the open today as they were spotted leaving her London home together.
Ms Rayner, 41, is believed to have become close to the 39-year-old Ilford South MP after he ran her campaign to become Labour’s deputy leader.
She separated from her husband Mark in 2020 and Mr Tarry, a father of two, is also understood to have now parted from his wife.
They were pictured by the Sun on Sunday leaving her taxpayer-funded home, with Mr Tarry showing what looked like a toothbrush in his coat pocket.
Mr Tarry is something of a rarity, a leftwing Labour MP with a shadow ministerial post, as shadow public transport minister.
He entered Parliament at the 2019 election with the backing of Corbynite grassroots group Momentum, after the previous Labour MP for Ilford South, Mike Gapes, defected to Change UK.
While the pair have been quiet about their relationship, they may have to open up about it in future if Ms Rayner, a grandmother, decides to run for the Labour leadership.
Ms Rayner, 41, is believed to have become close to the 39-year-old Ilford South MP after he ran her campaign to become Labour’s deputy leader.
She separated from her husband Mark in 2020 and Mr Tarry, a father of two, is also understood to have now parted from his wife.
Mr Tarry is something of a rarity, a leftwing Labour MP with a shadow ministerial post, as shadow public transport minister.
The plain-talking Mancunian said it would be ‘an absolute honour’ to enter Downing Street as a former single mum from a council estate.
But she told US broadcaster CNBC she planned to do it as deputy prime minister, with Sir Kier in the top job.
Last week she made clear her designs on Labour’s top job – before pledging her support to Sir Keir Starmer.
The plain-talking Mancunian said it would be ‘an absolute honour’ to enter Downing Street as a former single mum from a council estate.
But she told US broadcaster CNBC she planned to do it as deputy prime minister, with Sir Kier in the top job.
However, she declined to rule out running to replace him as party leader one day, saying: ‘Never say never’.
‘At the moment, I can’t wait to get into number 10 With Keir and be his deputy prime minister as a girl from my background, who grew up on the, you know, a council estate very poor background to left school pregnant at 16, with no qualifications to become deputy prime minister would be an absolute honour,’ she said.
‘And I never forget the trust that the people of my constituency put in me at the moment. And that’s what spurs me on to keep going. And they deserve better than what they’ve got currently. And I want to keep fighting to get that farther.’
It is not the first time Ms Rayner has talked openly about taking over at the top
Last September she positioned herself as a future leader on the first day of the party conference in Brighton, boasting: ‘If Boris Johnson can bluster his way as PM, I know for an absolute certainty I can do a lot better than that.’