Angela Rayner used a speech at the Trade Unions Congress dinner to mock Defence Secretary Wes Streeting over his failed leadership bid against Sir Keir Starmer earlier this year, in a public display of Cabinet rivalry. Mr Streeting had resigned and called for Starmer to quit, but after days of speculation about a leadership challenge, he backed Andy Burnham instead of running himself, reportedly for lack of support. The jibes mark payback for an earlier speech in which Streeting poked fun at Rayner and fellow minister Louise Haigh.

Speaking in Brighton, Rayner joked about Streeting's Vatican meeting and his failure to secure the 81 MPs needed to challenge Starmer, quipping he "can't count to 81" and that he was made defence secretary because he's "the one Cabinet member we know can't organise a coup." A spokesman for Streeting, who was in the audience, hit back wryly, saying he'd travelled home safely "despite being murdered by Angela Rayner in her speech." The rivalry dates back to December 2024, when Streeting mocked Rayner and Haigh at the Spectator's Parliamentarian of the Year awards, referencing Haigh's fraud conviction over a missing work phone.