One Labour MP summed it up when they messaged to explain the “Anybody But Ange” campaign gaining traction within the parliamentary party.
“I am really worried Angela will be our Liz Truss,” they said.
The analogy comes from the disastrous 49-day premiership of Ms Truss which collapsed like a pack of cards following the calamitous mini Budget.
The statement sums up what another MP described as “an existential moment” for the Labour Party as some scramble to prevent Angela Rayner taking over from Keir Starmer.
But is the fear really justified?
While Ms Truss has been trying to rebuild her standing and claim she was the victim of some sort of coup, the fatal reputational damage she inflicted on the Conservative Party is there for everyone to see.
The run on the markets destroyed the Tories’ image of being the party of good finance. It increased mortgage costs and is still the punchline for Labour’s attacks on them. It put them on a path to the worst defeat in a history of the party which spans more than 300 years. For all her efforts and Labour’s woes, Kemi Badenoch still struggles to overcome the Truss legacy.
So why do some in Labour think Ms Rayner will be their version of Truss?
The issue with Ms Rayner is that, like Ms Truss, she is the ideological choice rather than the pragmatic one.
While Ms Truss was essentially a candidate for tax cutters, regardless of other factors, Ms Rayner is the chosen soft left candidate.
She may well be the answer to tackle the leaking of support to the Green Party on the left, and certainly has the charisma to take on its leader, Zack Polanski.
But she represents a policy shift which would change the nature of the Labour Party and essentially push forward an even higher tax, bigger state version of socialism than we have seen with Sir Keir.
The big worry, though, on the right of the party is that she will spook the markets and cause a flight of capital.
We saw a flick of this when the markets went into a panic over the prospect of Rachel Reeves being sacked as chancellor. She had been seen in the Commons crying during PMQs after the prime minister failed to guarantee her future.
“There will be a meltdown on the markets,” said one “Anybody But Ange” MP about the prospect of her becoming PM.
It was the guilt markets which did it for Truss and, if something even worse were to happen with Rayner – as some fear – then “it could be curtains” for Labour.
Her allies were many of those who propped up Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership even though they were not his dyed in the wool supporters.
But some mutter about leftwing figures like her partner – former MP Sam Tarry, closely involved with Hope Not Hate – as a symbol of the people who will be around her.
The big issue is that, like Ms Truss, Ms Rayner would potentially be bringing in a radical agenda that does not have a mandate from a general election and would only be installed because the first attempt at prime minister has been forced out.
Much of this is being whipped up by those who are desperate for either Sir Keir to hold on or Wes Streeting to take over from him.
While the Truss comparison may be an exaggeration, Labour MPs will still be pondering if Ms Rayner is worth the risk.
