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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
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Anna van Praagh

Why I love Angela Rayner

Anna van Praagh

(Picture: Matt Writtle)

I adore Angela Rayner. The MP for Failsworth and Ashton-under-Lyne was recently videoed raving behind the decks at a Manchester v Liverpool charity event to raise money for homelessness and she looked amazing — the life and soul of the party. Most politicians these days leave me either horrified or anaesthetised. Redhead Rayner couldn’t be boring

if she tried. She overcame incredible odds to get where she is — she grew up on a council estate looking after her own mother who couldn’t read or write and suffered from bipolar disorder.

She left school at 16

with no qualifications to become a mother.

“Underestimate me at your peril,” she said

recently. I wouldn’t dare.

I love everything from her

forthright manner to her punky clumpy shoes and brilliant sense of humour. Would I vote for her?

No, but I’m a fan.

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