To think allisons pearsons rant about Angela Rayner is full of nasty stereotypes about girls who are 16 and pregnant?

[Helhigh]

Well I’m not a fan of Angela Rayner and have never voted labour but Pearsons rant in the telegraph yesterday was half assumptions that Rayner must have been a bully who thumped classmates for doing their homework and distracted the class by talking about how many boys she shagged.
And of course reading books and having a child at 16 is mutually exclusive.
I don’t think Rayner has ever said she was like this Pearson has just made a load of assumptions because she was 16 and pregnant.

Anyway it’s behind a pay wall so I had to copy and paste the nasty part:

“I have noticed a tendency among politicians and commentators, particularly the posh ones, to praise Rayner’s flame-haired “authenticity”. That’s because they didn’t go to school with an Angela. Those of us who did know the harm that the Angelas do to kids from poorer homes who want to work hard and do well but whose lessons are permanently disrupted by those who don’t. The Angelas sit in the back row of the class putting on make-up, doing their nails and chatting loudly, throughout readings from the set book, about who they’ve sh---ed. They disdain the teachers who are rather scared of them.
Angelas have sex by the age of 13 (they mock those of us who are saving our virginity for later). Pregnant at 16, they leave school without any qualifications and work behind the till in Mac Fisheries before embarking on a romantic life which features at least two injunctions and a restraining order. By the age of 37, they are grandmothers (as Rayner was).
Believe me, all the kids who want to get on in life breathe an almighty sigh of relief that the Angelas have left school because now they can hand in their homework and try to pass their exams without being ridiculed or thumped by an Angela.
So you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t join in the applause for Angela Rayner’s vibrant “back story” and her ascent to the top of government through militant trade unionism. The working-class kids I admire often came from difficult council-house homes, as Rayner did, but they clung on to education like a life raft. Or they saw a job opportunity and grasped it with both hands. They did that old-fashioned thing called bettering themselves”

Nope, she’s seriously dumb.

I don’t always agree with her politics and I think she’s made a couple of poor decisions but I’ve listened to her speak and I like her, I’m impressed with how she has turned her life around - there are not many who can. I see the hatred of woman and of the working classes, she speaks up society in general hated that. I’m a supporter but I don’t want her to be PM.

So your message is that if you are born into abject poverty with completely inadequate parents like Angela Rayner did, you should be barred from going into politics? Angela Rayner went through the trades union route which is one of the pretty standard ways of becoming a Labour politician. I have watched interviews with Angela Rayner where she talks about her childhood and she has managed to overcome huge obstacles to become an MP and then get elected as Deputy Leader. Her childhood, like that of former Home Secretary Alan Johnson who wrote a book about his, is one of almost Victorian poverty and deprivation and I have nothing but admiration for her courage and determination.

Do you have the same objections about Reform MP Lee Anderson or do you consider him one of those working class 'salt of the earth' people because he is a man and is now an extremely right-wing MP?

No-one is applauding a lack of educational achievements. I and other posters are saying that it is a hideously spiteful article stereotyping working class girls who get pregnant while still at school, full of lies, and unverified 'facts' in order to assassinate the character of Angela Rayner.

Of course she isn't dumb. She's quite the opposite in fact to be able to reach the upper echelons of UK class-ridden politics despite all the disadvantages of her deprived childhood. Mumsnet can be a cesspit at times, but the sheer bile and hatred dripping from your posts are quite disturbing.

Don’t necessarily agree with your choice of words but I do agree with the gist of your post. Plus hasn’t her own DD had a child also at 16? Sad that the cycle has repeated itself.

Her child Ryan had a child at 21 making her a grandma at 37.

She also dosent even have a daughter

I expected you to answer a simple question simply and honestly. But clearly that is a little bit of a challenge for you. Don’t worry.

It was a fair enough question asking about the core issue here. Regardless of how much you hate somebody, is it okay to invent a childhood for them and then criticise them for it. In the public eye or otherwise. I don’t think anybody would like that done to them or their kids. But never mind, you don’t get it.

As you wish.

Rayner has dined out on her deprived childhood - that’s the point, and one of the primary reasons she got to where she did (before reality bit).

People voted for Rayner because they felt like ‘sticking it to the man’, or ‘smashing the patriarchy’ - whatever that means.

What they forget is, that person has to be competent, and possessed of integrity etc.

.

Sadly, for some people, working class = dumb.

The bile directed towards AR is deeply depressing. People don't have to agree with her politics and they are free to criticise her actions and decisions all they like - I don't always agree with her myself. But so much of the criticism of her seems to be driven by a perception that she simply shouldn't have had the audacity to rise above her station in life.

Instead of recognising the tremendous drive and talent that it must have taken to get to where she is from a difficult start in life, she is dismissed as a "DEI appointment" as if she just had it all handed to her on a plate. People have no idea, because they just don't want to know. I guess it doesn't suit their narrative.

Does she really? How so?

Since when did the truth ever get it the way of mysogynist right wing ranters with a left wing WC working class woman in the cross fire? They're not attacking from a place of rationale or objectivity that would necessitate they used facts. They're are driven purely by emotion and so will say anything that vents the spleen.

I do not think it’s a fair assumption to make that this is what Rayner was like at school but I wouldn’t be in the slightest bit surprised if this were true. It plays into Rayners hands of being a class warrior though so a foolish article

Rayner will be a thorn in the side for any Labour leader and Starmer managed that well until Raynor fucked it up for herself by becoming like those she has always vocally despised and this will never go away.

AR got to where she was because of who she is not her intellect or competence and that is a poor reflection on how Labour operate and a bit embarrassing in these times. I have seen and heard her many times interviewed and while I admire her drive and she has obviously worked hard I have never been impressed by her as a politician and at times found her an embarrassment to the party

as for the king admiring her so what are we meant to doff our caps and agree 😬

I think the level of vitriol is very revealing. They’re petrified of her.

You underestimate her at your peril

A working life: the union official | Work & careers | The Guardian

On the contrary - too many have evidently over-estimated her abilities.

The peril has already been crystallised once.

Lets hope they don’t repeat their mistake.

Rayner is a gift to the Tories and Reform

no one is petrified of her

being a Labour supporter that is not to the left of the party I am more concerned than any Tory or reform voter of her becoming party leader, it will be a disaster for the party but I know that Labour have a habit of damaging themselves

None of that justifies Pearson’s bit of creative writing.

If people prefer a bit of casual racism 'because of Rayner', then their colours are truly shown.

Nope. She said it at a conference reception. And later apologised. Interesting that this is the incident that is always brought up-inaccurately.

And many people just won’t bother to vote of they do not feel a leader of a party is competent to be PM

Labour are making a mistake to win over Reform or Tory voters but there are many in the middle of politics who want a competent PM

Is it just Angela Rayner that you feel so strongly against? A few days ago you started this thread:

Labour - is there any hope left?

Selectivemute · 27/04/2026 21:15

Life feels genuinely tough at the moment, and I am trying to remain optimistic.

But what has this Labour government actually achieved since July 2024?

Please tell me the positives, because I am struggling to see any, right now.

Was that genuine or do you have a particular agenda, please?

If people don't bother voting then can't complain about the outcome.

I agree that Labour made the mistake in chasing the Reform vote.

But the people who hate Rayner with a passion would never have voted Labour anyway.

A word to the wise - don’t cross reference other threads - MN might pull you up.

We all have an agenda - anyone who says otherwise is delusional.