Angela Rayner Warns of Gen Z Hopelessness Ahead of Local Elections

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said a growing share of young people in Britain feel “there isn’t an investment in their future now” and that “no matter how much you run on the treadmill, you are not going to make it.” She framed it as a warning to Labour’s leadership before the local elections.

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Rayner left the Cabinet in September after an HMRC probe into her stamp-duty tax affairs. Although she has publicly backed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, sources say she is weighing a leadership challenge if Labour suffers heavy losses in the 1 May local elections.

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Average house prices exceed eight times the median annual salary, while a graduate carries £50,000 of debt. A poll of 12,000 (including 6,000 Gen Z) found young people describe themselves as “resilient,” “misunderstood,” or “lost,” and 73.6 % of older respondents say the challenges are serious.

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Rayner highlighted three laws she helped pass – the Renters’ Rights Act, the Employment Rights Act and the forthcoming Leasehold and Commonhold Bill – as measures to support adults and cited her campaign for 16-year-old voting rights. Insiders say Starmer may reinstate her after the tax probe, but he has not commented on the Gen Z issue.

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In a March speech Rayner warned that “the very survival of the Labour Party is at stake” and that the party is “running out of time,” a message critics interpret as an indirect challenge to Starmer and a possible trigger for a leadership contest.

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Rayner’s 29-year-old son, a low-income tenant, borrowed money from her for dental treatment, showing affordability pressures on families.

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• “more and more young people are feeling there isn’t an investment in their future now” — Angela Rayner, former Deputy Prime Minister

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• “That whole generation at the moment feels, no matter how much you run on the treadmill, you are not going to make it.” — Angela Rayner

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• “I want young people to look at the things that I was doing in Government and say, ‘She’s fighting for me and she gets it because they know things are difficult,’” — Angela Rayner

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The 1 May local elections will test Labour’s standing and may prompt a Cabinet reshuffle. Rayner’s interview opens the first episode of the Rest Is Politics “Gen Z Story” series, with further episodes in May.

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