Rayner departure Worst blow yet for beleaguered prime minister

At 9.30am on Monday, as MPs made their way back to Westminster, Keir Starmer gathered the entire staff of No 10 in the Pillared Room of Downing Street to tell them they were about to enter the next, delivery, stage of government.

- Pippa Crerar

"We go into phase two in good spirits, confident and with conviction," he told them, as some of those gathered shuffled awkwardly. His remarks, after all, followed a difficult summer during which Labour had vacated the pitch to Reform UK and before what is likely to be an even more turbulent autumn.

With Starmer desperately needing to show he could get a grip on government, the rest of his big reset week could not have gone more badly. The departure of his deputy, Angela Rayner, is the most serious blow yet for the already beleaguered prime minister.

In interviews, Rayner often described Starmer as "the yin to my yang", explaining how the odd couple of British politics may not have run on a joint ticket for leader and deputy, but they were so complementary they might as well have done.