There are political backdrops… and then there is Lord Alli's Covent Garden penthouse, a glass-and-steel aerie where Westminster's ambitions float as freely as the cocktails. On Tuesday night it played host to a fundraiser — officially in aid of charity, unofficially for the ritual pre-Christmas stock-taking of Labour's powerbrokers.
Sir Keir Starmer arrived with Lady Starmer, flanked by Cabinet loyalists Peter Kyle, Bridget Phillipson and Johnny Reynolds, his Chief Whip and habitual firefighter. Also present: the donors who fuel the machine — including Lord Alli himself, whose gift of tailored suits and designer glasses to Sir Keir last year produced a flurry of awkward headlines.
And yet, amid the small talk, canapé diplomacy and donor-management, the room was seized by a single moment. A moment of warmth. Of calculation. Of danger.
A long hug between Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner — the two names whispered most often in Labour's increasingly audible leadership chatter.
The Embrace Heard Across Westminster
Neither Streeting nor Rayner has done much to dampen speculation. Streeting, the Health Secretary and the Blairite crown-prince-in-waiting, wears his ambition almost as openly as his NHS reform agenda. Rayner, recently forced out as deputy prime minister after the stamp-duty debacle, remains adored by the membership and — crucially — essential to any Left-leaning legitimacy.
So when the pair embraced, heads close, voices low, the room noticed. And Westminster took notes. Because this wasn't just gossip. This was the recurring rumour that won't die: a joint ticket, a unity pact, a Streeting–Rayner peace deal.
According to six Labour sources, Streeting's allies have been quietly pushing the idea for weeks. One Rayner ally puts it bluntly:
"His people are making an offer. The offer is: support me for leader, and you can have any job you want."
Translated: back me when Starmer falls, and I'll restore you to the top table.
Why the Rumour Won't Go Away
Partly because it's everywhere. MP after MP has heard the same lines from the Streeting camp — and when the same rumour reaches you for the sixth, seventh, twelfth time, it stops sounding accidental.
Partly because Rayner herself is said to be telling people about the overtures.
And partly because the political maths is brutal. Streeting may be admired in Westminster, but among Labour members he ranks only 12th in Cabinet popularity — behind Douglas Alexander, Heidi Alexander and Hilary Benn. A Blairite alone cannot win a Labour leadership contest.
A Blairite with the party's most recognisable Left figure? That's at least plausible.
Streeting has also been conspicuously affectionate towards Rayner since her resignation — conference tributes, public praise, and even a carefully overheard "We really need to catch up" in the voting lobbies. Odd behaviour if one is not plotting.
The Rayner Question: Queenmaker or Queen?
The biggest unknown is Rayner herself. Publicly she ruled out running earlier this year. Privately, friends say the stamp-duty saga scorched her confidence and personal life.
YouGov has her at –40 approval, suggesting the public may not yet be ready for a Rayner leadership bid. But among members? She would almost certainly win.
And yet — like any political heavyweight — she is edging back onto the stage. Campaign appearances for the May elections. Media outings. A warning shot on workers' rights that forced Downing Street into a 48-hour retreat.
The appetite is still there. The timing is not.
Which makes a unity pact simultaneously tempting and dangerous.
Streeting's Road to No. 10: Only Viable With Rayner
As Labour slumps below 20% in the polls and Reform surges ahead for an eighth consecutive month, nerves are fraying. Some MPs now whisper that Starmer's future hinges on May 2026 — the local elections that could see Labour lose Wales, stall in Scotland and bleed to Reform in England.
If that happens, the succession battle will move from whisper to war cry.
Streeting cannot win without Left-wing support. Rayner cannot yet run without risking another bruising. A unity ticket, sold as a "stop the infighting" coronation, could let both wings claim victory before a contest even begins.
But would the membership swallow a coronation for Streeting?
One soft-Left MP laughs:
"Zero chance. Absolutely zero."
A major union leader is even blunter:
"He needs the Left. But a Streeting-Rayner ticket? That's a leap of faith too far."
Streeting's spokesman has dismissed the whole notion as fantasy:
"A silly season story."
But the denial only highlights the obvious: nobody is denying the closeness between the two.
Meanwhile, in No. 10… Panic
Downing Street is watching the Rayner revival with keen interest. Starmer has begun "love-bombing" her — praising her publicly, hinting at reconciliation, signalling a possible return to Cabinet if she stays loyal rather than hitching herself to Streeting.
Because for all the Westminster psychodrama, one thing is clear:
The very existence of a potential Streeting–Rayner axis destabilises Starmer more than any Tory attack line ever could.
A senior Cabinet minister, exasperated, told Votes & Quotes:
"It's completely mad. We spent 14 years getting a Labour government, and now people won't stop undermining it. It's damaging."
The Hug That Echoes Into 2026
A friendly hug between two colleagues in Lord Alli's penthouse should not mean anything.
But in Westminster — where careers are made in shadows and ended in whispers — it was as loud as a klaxon.
Streeting and Rayner may never formalise a pact. They may remain merely colleagues, friends, frenemies… or future rivals.
But if Labour crashes into the May 2026 elections, and if Starmer's position collapses, that embrace could go down as the moment the next leadership race began.
Votes & Quotes verdict:
The hug was real.
The plotting is plausible.
And Starmer's grip may be weaker today than it was yesterday.
