Angela Rayner today suggested Jeremy Corbyn could have remained within Labour’s ranks if he wasn’t running as an independent at the general election.

The 75-year-old, who led Labour between 2015 to 2020, was recently banished from the party after announcing he would stand in Islington North on 4 July.

His decision to run as an independent in the London seat he has represented since 1983 came after he was blocked from standing as an official Labour candidate.

Mr Corbyn had previously lost the Labour whip in Parliament when he said claims of anti-Semitism during his time in charge had been exaggerated by opponents.

But Ms Rayner hinted the veteran left-winger might have been able to remain a party member had he not gone on to stand against Labour in this year’s general election.

The Labour deputy leader also admitted Sir Keir Starmer, who replaced Mr Corbyn as party leader, feels ‘uncomfortable’ with questions about his predecessor.

She said this was because Sir Keir feels ‘guilt’ over Labour’s devastating loss at the 2019 general election, when Mr Corbyn was in charge.

Angela Rayner today suggested Jeremy Corbyn could have remained within Labour’s ranks if he wasn’t running as an independent at the general election

The Labour deputy leader also admitted Sir Keir Starmer, who replaced Mr Corbyn as party leader, feels ‘uncomfortable’ with questions about his predecessor

Sir Keir last night squirmed over his past support for Mr Corbyn during a grilling on the BBC’s Question Time

Ms Rayner was quizzed about Sir Keir’s views after the Labour leader last night ducked questions about his previous claim Mr Corbyn would have been a ‘great’ PM.

Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Ms Rayner was asked why Sir Keir feels ‘uncomfortable’ when reminded of his past support for Mr Corbyn. 

‘I think the 2019 general election result, we got hammered by the electorate, I’m not going to put it any plainer than that,’ the Labour deputy leader replied.

‘And we saw the devastation after that when Boris Johnson was elected and I think some of the feedback I got was that Labour didn’t offer an alternative.

‘That period of time was not good for Labour, we didn’t get elected.’

Pressed on why Sir Keir previously backed Mr Corbyn, before distancing himself from his predecessor, Ms Rayner said: ‘Keir is very clear that we were fighting for a Labour government, as was I at the time.

‘And I think we all saw what happened after 2019 and what happened when Boris Johnson became PM – the parties, the unlawful behaviour, the sleaze, the scandal, the chaos as Liz Truss crashed our economy.

‘We all feel a lot of guilt over the fact that we didn’t put a programme forward that the electorate would vote for and I think that’s why Keir feels uncomfortable.

‘We’ve changed the Labour Party since then because we need a Labour Party that’s going to serve the British people.

‘Because we’ve seen what happens when we had the Tory chaos and we take some responsibility for that because we lost the election.’

Asked why she previously said she was ‘absolutely gutted’ to hear Mr Corbyn had been suspended from Labour, Ms Rayner added: ‘Since then we’ve seen that Jeremy Corbyn hasn’t really acted in a way that would have been in keeping with the Labour Party.

‘He’s now standing against the Labour Party so therefore he’s not a member of the Labour Party any more.’

Challenged on what Mr Corbyn had done to see his Labour membership rescinded, Ms Rayner replied: ‘He’s standing against the Labour Party and he’s criticised the Labour Party as we’ve come forward with a programme that we believe is a programme for government.’

Sir Keir last night squirmed over his past support for Mr Corbyn during a grilling on the BBC’s Question Time.

The Labour leader ducked a volley of questions over whether he truly believed Mr Corbyn would have made a ‘great’ prime minister – as he previously claimed. 

Sir Keir was laughed at by the audience as he dodged replying ‘yes or no’ when asked whether he meant it when he said Mr Corbyn would have been a ‘great’ premier.

The Labour leader instead suggested his predecessor would have been ‘better’ than Boris Johnson. 

‘It wasn’t a question that really arose because I didn’t think we were going to win the election,’ Sir Keir said, when pressed on his claim Mr Corbyn would be a ‘great’ PM ahead of the 2019 general election.