Sir Keir Starmer has hinted at Angela Rayner’s return to Cabinet, saying she is “certainly not dead yet”.

Labour’s former deputy leader resigned in September after it emerged she did not pay enough stamp duty on an £800,000 flat in Hove.

She however remains a popular figure within the party and is viewed as a potential successor to Sir Keir.

The Prime Minister told Times Radio: “I’ve always said that Angela has not only played a big part in Labour politics, in our country’s politics, but has got a big part to play in the future.”

The Prime Minister continued: “That is not new, I said that on the day that she stepped down, and I don’t doubt that is true .

“She is certainly not dead yet, she has got a huge contribution to make and I look forward to her making it.”

Sir Keir added that he has “always been clear she has a future role to play”, branding his former deputy a “fantastic asset” to the Labour party.

He continued: “She played a huge part in the achievement that we got at the last election; getting elected, we’ve just passed the Employment Rights Act, which has got her fingerprints all over it.”

The Ashton-under-Lyne MP was catapulted back into the headlines last month after she reportedly said Labour’s leadership should “do better” in remarks at a private fundraising dinner last week.

According to the Times, Ms Rayner said Labour “should be humble enough to accept when we’ve made mistakes.”

She added: “We should do better, and we should do more.”

The former Cabinet minister said she wanted to help Labour do battle with Reform, and in a signal she hopes to return to frontline politics, adding: “I’m still fighting. I’m not dead yet.”

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Around 80 MPs are prepared to back Ms Rayner in a leadership contest, should one occur after May’s elections, her allies told the Times.

They briefed the press that she supported Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s attempt to stand in Gorton by-election, which could then have opened the door to his own leadership challenge against the Prime Minister.

However, the party’s ruling body blocked Mr Burnham’s application, citing the expensive by-election it would trigger to replace him as Mayor of Greater Manchester.

They instead appointed Angeliki Stogia, a Manchester city councillor, as candidate.

Close allies of Sir Keir have quickly stepped to downplay rumours that Ms Rayner was on manoeuvres.

The Prime Minister’s former Director of Politics between 2021 and 2024, Luke Sullivan, said if Ms Rayner had raised £1m, she would have instead spent the money setting up a nightclub in Ibiza.

He told GB News: “It’s always important to wait to hear what she says. I think often we get a lot of these ‘allies’ stories knocking around. Angela is a very plain-spoken northern woman, and she will give you her view.

“But as I understand it, from speaking to her team, there’s absolutely no truth in this story whatsoever.”