Angela Rayner is set for a major political comeback as Andy Burnham’s Health Secretary.
She is believed to be a top contender for the role, with the hope to make major reforms to social care.
Previously deputy prime minister under Sir Keir Starmer, Ms Rayner stepped down after it was revealed she had failed to pay a £40,000 stamp duty bill.
As a former care worker, the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne is being primed for the top health job, which is currently held by James Murray, who stepped in after Wes Streeting retreated from the frontbench role, the Telegraph reports.
Mr Burnham’s ambitions for social care in the UK is to “expend quite a lot of political capital”, supported by an £18billion budget.
A source said Ms Rayner was being “lined up” by the Labour leader’s close allies to lead care for the disabled and elderly.
However, Mr Burnham insisted he has not finalised this Cabinet line-up, with it due to be announced on Monday.
He added the Cabinet would be reflective of “all parts” of the Labour Party.
After winning the uncontested Labour leadership vote, Mr Burnham promised he would have the “courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected, like social care”.
Speaking to activists in Gravesend, Kent, he said: “We’ve had 40 years of that trickle-down approach to running the economy. But it doesn’t trickle down much at all, does it? It doesn’t benefit ordinary people.”
He also said: “I’m not going to do what Westminster has traditionally done, which is to kick the can down the road on this important issue.
“I will expend political capital on bringing forward a plan to fix social care, and I’m not going to waste time because every time that we waste another year, thousands and thousands more people don’t get the care that they need.”
Baroness Casey of Blackstock has been tasked with reviewing social care – a review expected to underpin much of the incoming Prime Minister’s reform agenda.
Rather than the original 2028 timeline, Mr Burnham is expected to ask her to bring forward recommendations by year’s end, something she has already indicated she’s open to doing.
Mr Burnham, whose father lives with Alzheimer’s, is understood to already have firm views on the reforms he wants to pursue, with the long-term aim of a care system free at the point of use.
This was an idea he first floated back in 2010 during his time as health secretary.
The Health Foundation estimates such a scheme could cost £18.7billion annually by 2035/36, with the charity’s senior policy fellow, Lucinda Allen, warning that an NHS-style model would need substantial funding
One option Mr Burnham has floated is reviving an earlier proposal to replace inheritance tax with a care levy.
This would involve taxing estates on death and ring-fencing the proceeds for social care.
When he first suggested this in 2009, the Conservatives dubbed it a “death tax”.
Ms Rayner cleared her way back to the front bench by clearing her bill with HMRC but decided to not stand against Mr Burnham.
The former deputy Labour leader left school after falling pregnant at 16 but enrolled in college, studying social care at Stockport College in Greater Manchester.
She became a care worker for the council.
Ms Rayner criticised Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s plans to change visa rules for care workers, meaning they will have to wait 15 years to gain permanent settlement in the UK.
One ally close to Mr Burnham said Ms Rayner would “be good in whatever department she was put in”.
