“Deputy leadership contest may reveal if Labour shifts right or appeases restless left”

The departure of Angela Rayner has left a crucial gap in Labour’s ranks — and the race to replace her is set to shape not just the deputy leadership but the future direction of the party itself.

Rayner’s resignation last week, following an investigation into her underpaid tax on a seaside flat, forced Keir Starmer into a sweeping cabinet reshuffle. David Lammy moved into the deputy prime minister’s role, while Steve Reed took over as housing secretary. But the post of deputy leader of the Labour Party — elected directly by members — remains unfilled.

Nominations opened on Monday, with the winner to be announced on 25 October. To make the ballot, candidates must secure the support of at least 80 MPs this week and gain backing from either 5% of local parties or three affiliated groups.

Already the race has stirred internal tensions. Left-wing MP Richard Burgon described the process as “the mother of all stitch-ups”, adding that Labour members still “deserve a Left candidate on the ballot”. His comments reflect broader unease across the party, particularly after a reshuffle widely seen as shifting Labour further to the right.

Some in Westminster fear the contest could expose factional divisions at a time when Labour is under pressure from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and from public scrutiny over its own policy direction. A party veteran warned that if Starmer tries to push a serving minister into the role, “it could backfire quite badly,” suggesting that the reshuffle sidelined both the soft Left and the hard Left.

Others go further, arguing that the post itself is a liability. One MP privately remarked: “We should take the opportunity to abolish the post altogether. Its existence only feeds factional infighting.”

The party leadership, however, is determined to keep the process as low key as possible. General secretary Hollie Ridley urged MPs to remember that Labour’s “primary duty is to serve the country” — a plea not to let the contest become a public brawl.

The dilemma for Starmer is clear: the deputy leader role has traditionally come with a government post, as in the cases of Rayner and Harriet Harman before her. But appointing a figure too critical of the government could destabilise his cabinet. On the other hand, blocking grassroots choice risks angering members.

Health secretary Wes Streeting has suggested the new deputy leader may not automatically join the government, hinting at a potential shift in approach. That could offer Starmer some breathing room to manage the outcome.

The wider political context makes the stakes higher still. Labour’s summer recess was dominated by headlines about Farage, immigration and economic pressures. The resignation of Rayner — one of Labour’s most authentic working-class voices — has only sharpened concerns that the party risks losing touch with its traditional base.

For now, the contest remains wide open. The Left wants a champion to push back against what it sees as a rightward drift. The leadership hopes for a candidate who can act as a “constructive critic” — a pressure valve for discontent without tipping into outright disloyalty.

Whoever emerges victorious on 25 October will face a dual challenge: uniting a divided party and proving their worth to the government. Starmer, meanwhile, will have to decide how close a role his new deputy should play in cabinet, knowing that the choice will signal much about where Labour goes next