Angela Rayner

Angela Rayner (born 1980) is a British Labour politician and a former trade union official. Rayner was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashton-under-Lyne (Stockport, England) in 2015. She is the Shadow Education Secretary.

Educated at Avondale School, Stockport, Angela Rayner worked for Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council as a care worker before being elected as a UNISON union representative. She served as Convenor of UNISON North West.

Rayner was selected as the Labour candidate for Ashton-under-Lyne at the 2015 general election, which she contested successfully by increasing Labour's majority and share of the vote in the constituency. She delivered her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 3 June 2015. Rayner previously served as Opposition Whip and Shadow Pensions Minister.

The Guardian featured Rayner at length in 2012 by way of example of a trade union officer's working life, when she was UNISON Branch Secretary on Stockport Council.

She has three sons, the first of whom was born when she was aged 16: Charlie was born very prematurely at 23 weeks and she uses the care he received as a mark of the importance of the National Health Service and educational policy.

She lives in Ashton-under-Lyne with her family, including two sons by her husband, Mark Rayner, also a UNISON official.

On 27 June 2016, she was promoted to Shadow Women and Equalities Minister, and was further promoted later that week to Shadow Education Secretary, as Jeremy Corbyn reshuffled his shadow cabinet following a string of resignations.