'I'm John Prescott in a skirt': Angela Rayner says there will be 'trouble' if Keir Starmer does not make her deputy PM
27 September 2022, 18:50 | Updated: 20 October 2022, 11:54
Angela Rayner: I'm going to be John Prescott in a skirt
Angela Rayner has joked there will be "trouble" if Keir Starmer does not make her deputy prime minister in the event of a Labour government, telling Andrew Marr she will be "John Prescott in a skirt".
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Andrew asked Ms Rayner, who is currently deputy leader of the Labour party, if she expected to be deputy prime minister if her party won the next election.
"I'll definitely be deputy prime minister otherwise Keir's got trouble," she said.
"I'm going to be John Prescott in a skirt, I just say it how I see it."
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Andrew quipped she had "hijacked" the interview, saying: "I'm imagining John Prescott in a skirt and it's really, really hard to focus on my interview plan."
Ms Rayner replied: "I look better in a skirt, I can tell you that.
"Me and John are good mates, we see each other quite frequently, and I definitely look better in a skirt."
Andrew Marr says Labour is a party 'now on the edge of power'
Answering the question more seriously, Ms Rayner said: "I just think at the end of the day, people have had such a difficult time over the last couple of years.
"They need that optimism, but they need that plan that gives them confidence in what we can do."
Read more: Labour MP suspended from party after calling Kwasi Kwarteng 'superficially' black
She said Keir Starmer's speech at the Labour Party conference - described by Andrew as the 'speech of a lifetime' - had given her optimism for a "great future".
"After that speech [I feel] I'm leaving a legacy for my granddaughter that gives me optimism for her future," she said.
Angela Rayner gives take, after Rupa Huq description of Kwasi Kwarteng
Andrew also asked Ms Rayner about the suspension of the Labour whip from Rupa Huq, who was recorded calling Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng "superficially" black.
Ms Rayner said she welcomed the suspension.
"I don’t know what was going on in Rupa’s mind – Rupa would have to explain that," she told Andrew.
"It was unacceptable, those comments, and they would have been hurtful and it's right that she should apologise for those comments."
She added: "People can make mistakes, and that does happen – and people should recognise when they’ve made mistakes.
"But also, we cannot have unacceptable behaviour in our party."
