“I See Her As A CLASS TRAITOR' | Angela Rayner Receives £250K After Labour Exit

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]Let's get the views of a very old friend of mine, author, broadcaster, and academic Dr. Lisa McKenzie. Hi, Lisa.

[00:00:08]>> Good morning, Mark. Lovely to see you.

[00:00:10]>> It's really great to see you again. And you're based in Nottinghamshire. Is that right?

[00:00:15]>> I am. Yes. Yes. I'm in one of the ex mining communities.

[00:00:19]>> And this was a former Labour Heartland.

[00:00:22]What do the people that you uh live alongside think of people like Andy Burnham? Is Andy Burnham a workingclass hero?

[00:00:33]>> No, I don't think he's he's a workingclass hero. He's you've got to remember for almost a generation now, people don't know who he who he is. in Manchester he might be very popular but throughout the rest of the country um you know there's not really a a a sort of big knowledge of who he is. Um unfortunately where I live in Nottinghamshire Labour I honestly think has lost that workingclass vote uh for the long term. Um I'm not sure that I'm not sure that even Andy Burnham you know the king of the north he he's popular in Manchester. He speaks, he does kind of speak in a very common sense way if you listen to him, but I just think that now um it's a step too far to for Labor. You know, the people where I live and all over not not just actually Nottinghamshire, all over that red wall and de-industrialized communities, they have voted for Labor for almost a hundred years. And what Labor has done with those communities is they've almost like used their votes in order to put usually their mates into Westminster. If you think about Heartley, uh Mandel actually was flown into Hartley. Could you imagine Peter Mandelson, how could he ever have represented Hartley? So, you know, the people, the working class, de the de-industrialized working class have a long relationship with the Labor Party, and I think that has broken.

[00:02:05]>> And why do you feel that Labor have abandoned the working class? What's happened to the party and that political movement that they're now done with Labor?

[00:02:16]I >> think it started a lot. It started in 97 with Tony Blair who made a a conscious effort to start to he wanted to attract that sort of lower middle class. Uh I don't know if you remember Mondo man.

[00:02:30]>> Oh yes.

[00:02:31]>> And and the ethsics voter that sort of um almost like workingclass Tory. He he went for those. And since 1997 that's been the direction of the Labor Party.

[00:02:43]And if you look at the workingclass de-industrialized areas, year after year after year, they have voted less and less for labor. So this is not this is not uh something that's just happened in the last 5 years. This has actually been happening uh you know over over 30. You know, there was places like where I'm from, Ashefield, where they used to weigh the vote for Labor. And obviously now Ashefield is a constituency of Lee Anderson, a local man, a workingclass man. Um, but he's reform >> and his journey reflects that of many in workingclass parts of the country.

[00:03:23]>> Yeah. Yeah. um that Nottingham sure has always been considered as a bellweather actually. Uh because for the last 15 years they've voted with the you know the pattern of the country. Um so I think if you look at Nottinghamshire now which is I would say now a reform heartland um you know we might get the order of traffic and and as you said Lee Anderson is an example of a journey uh you know through workingclass Britain actually.

[00:03:56]Well, Rachel has messaged the show, Lisa, saying, "Good morning, Mark. She's in Newcastle. If I was a Makersfield, a Makerfield constituent. I wouldn't vote for Andy Bernham because his focus wouldn't be representing the area. It would be becoming PM and jet setting around the world. You may as well not have an MP." And Bill in Cheshire says reforms candidate for Makerfield should be the guy who stood last time, a good local candidate. then it will be Burnham that is the unwanted guy who's been parachuted in for his own reasons. It shows no respect for voters. Uh the messaging of Andy Burnham swooping into a constituency and re-entering the House of Commons is not great, is it? The optics aren't great, Lisa.

[00:04:42]>> No, no, it's not. And it's actually a very tried and tested theme by Labour.

[00:04:46]They've been doing this to these communities for a long time. Like I said, uh you know, there has been so many workingclass, particularly de-industrialized white working-class communities that the Labour Party have used over the years to bring in ministers, friends, uh photocopying boys, you know, they have done this for 100 years. This is this is a very tried and tested labor uh ploy, but um these communities are are aware of it now.

[00:05:18]They know and what people want now is they want local representation. They want to be represented in parliament and they want a cons they want someone to represent them who knows them and understands their community. And even though Andy Bernham will tick some of those boxes, he won't to tick all of those boxes. And I think there's another really important point as well with Bernham. He is very pro- Europe and as we know the uh voters in the red wall are not and if this is a ploy for Andy Bernham to sort of uh win back those red wall voters he really needs to have a look at what he's going to do about Europe.

[00:06:01]>> Well Europe's an interesting one. Lisa, before I let you go, two quick questions. Angela Raina, she is a potential candidate for the top job.

[00:06:10]What's your appraisal of her? Because she certainly flexes her workingclass pred credentials.

[00:06:16]>> Yeah, I mean you you know for a long time I've I've I've had no love for Angela Raina. Um I have seen her as a class traitor. I think in where we are now I don't think she's going to be standing. I think there is a pact between Street Raina and Burnham. Um and it's a pack that they you know almost sort of a a soft left pact. Um, the three of them are looking to take over the Labor government.

[00:06:43]>> I can't disagree with you on that. Why do you push back on the idea that Angela Raina is also a workingclass hero? Um, she was a single mom. She left school without many qualifications. Um, is that not the definition of a workingclass hero?

[00:07:00]>> Well, she's working class. She's definitely workingass. Her story is very similar to mine. Um although what Angela Raina has done is you know you've got to look at her policies and what she believes in and it's not really for workingclass people. Her own constituents complain about her all the time. She's done the same you know she's done that labor pattern. She's got in she's she's become very wealthy now and now she's moved she's done the ultimate sin. She's left the north to live in Brighton. Imagine that. you know, how does she think that her own constituences in the north and then the north are desperate for representation?

[00:07:38]You know, the the de-industrialized communities are desperate for representation. And Angela Raina has done the very Labor thing of using her constituents and for her own personal career. That's not really a workingclass hero. And Lisa, last but not least, does it surprise you that a former banker and a multi-millionaire like Nigel Farage should be the great hope for many workingclass voters? Is that surprising?

[00:08:05]What do you make of it?

[00:08:08]>> It's not surprising because again people are listening to policy. People want policy. I think this feels politics is finished now. What people want is they want policy. And I think this is the other area where they're going to come unstuck as well. Their policy around immigration. Uh just two weeks ago, Angela Raina was reported to say she would only go back in cabinet if Mimmude was sacked because she doesn't agree with her on immigration. So people are listening to policy and you know if anybody from the Labor government is listening now, I would say to them, look at your policies because because the the the British public definitely are.

[00:08:47]>> Yes indeed. The public don't care about your bank balance. They want to know what you're going to do when you're in power. Lisa, it's been too long. What a thrill to have you on the show. Look forward to catching up very soon. More power to you. And to Wayne, your lovely friend who I remember meeting back in the day, Dr. Lisa McKenzie, author and broadcaster.