Angela Rayner

Angela Rayner, born 28 March 1980) was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashton-under-Lyne at the 2015 general election and has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Education since 1 July 2016.

Rayner supports a proposed "National Education Service" (NES) modelled after the National Health Service.<

Early career
After leaving school, 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, the most senior UNISON official in the region.

Parliamentary career
Rayner contested the Ashton-under-Lyne constituency at the 2015 general election, and increased the Labour majority and share of the vote in the constituency. Rayner successfully defended her Ashton-under-Lyne seat at the general election called on 8 June 2017 both increasing the Labour Party majority and vote share.

Shadow Minister
On 27 June 2016, she was promoted to Shadow Women and Equalities Minister, and was further promoted later that week to Shadow Education Secretary. Rayner had previously served as Opposition Whip and Shadow Pensions Minister.

Views
Rayner is concerned that statutory instruments enable the government to bypass parliament and fears this is a threat to democracy. Notably, Rayner is concerned that the government in 2017 raised tuition fees by statutory instrument and disregarded a later vote in parliament against this rise. Rayner fears similar statutory instruments may be used to bypass parliament over Brexit.