Angela Rayner has emerged as the favourite to become the next Labour leader after being heavily backed by punters.
In recent days, there was a huge increase in backing for the former deputy prime minister, as 78% of bets backed her to succeed Keir Starmer.
This saw Rayner’s odds move from 4/1 to 13/8, whilst Wes Streeting, the previous favourite, drifted to 3/1.
Oddschecker spokesman Chris Rogers stated: “Angela Rayner is the new favourite to become the next Labour leader.
“A whopping 78% of bets backed Rayner to succeed Keir Starmer as her odds were slashed from 4/1 to 13/8 over the weekend. Former favourite Wes Streeting’s odds have drifted to 3/1 giving him an implied chance of 20% to replace Starmer as Labour leader.”
Whilst Rayner’s odds have since drifted with some bookies, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Sky Bet and William Hill all still have her as favourite to takeover from Starmer at the time of writing.
The influx of support for Rayner comes after Starmer said he wanted to bring her back to the front line of the Labour Party “at the right point.”
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Speaking to Times Radio, the prime minister said: “I would like to have Angela back at the right point. I’ve always been clear she has a future role to play.”
“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,” he added.
Last year, Rayner resigned from Starmer’s cabinet after it emerged she had failed to pay the correct amount of stamp duty on a £800,000 flat in Hove.
Rayner, who also served as housing secretary, took full responsibility for the error, and in September she resigned.
This was after an investigation found she had “acted with integrity” but broke the ministerial code by failing to get the correct tax advice.