Drinks on you, Ange? Rayner enjoys £61,500 payday as she receives advance on her 'unvarnished and upfront' memoir

By GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Published: 14:25, 3 June 2026 | Updated: 14:29, 3 June 2026 Angela Rayner has enjoyed a £61,500 payday after she received the five-figure sum as an advance on her forthcoming book. The former deputy prime minister is said to be penning an 'unvarnished and upfront' memoir that will be 'authentically Angela'. It is expected to detail her life story from an impoverished childhood and leaving school at 16 while pregnant, through to becoming a senior Cabinet minister. The Ashton-under-Lyne MP's book is set to be published later this year, which could coincide with a potential Labour leadership contest. Keir Starmer is widely expected to be challenged for his party's leadership by Andy Burnham, should the Greater Manchester mayor win the Makerfield by-election on 18 June. Ms Rayner has indicated she could also enter any contest to replace the Prime Minister, with her path to doing so having been cleared by her recent settlement of a tax bill with HMRC. She was forced to quit as deputy PM, deputy Labour leader and housing secretary last September following her tearful admission she failed to pay correct stamp duty. The £40,000 she owed in tax on the purchase of her £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex, has been more than covered by her book advance from publisher Bodley Head. Angela Rayner's book is expected to detail her life story from an impoverished childhood and leaving school at 16 while pregnant, through to becoming a senior Cabinet minister The former deputy prime minister, 46, was recently seen soaking up the sun on Bank Holiday Monday with her topless ex-MP boyfriend Sam Tarry, 43 Ms Rayner's latest register of interests detailed how she received the £61,500 payment from Bodley Head, an imprint of Vintage, a division of Penguin Random House UK, on 13 May. It was reported last year that Bodley Head had secured the release of Ms Rayner's memoir following a bidding war between several different publishers. A ghostwriter is being brought in to capture Ms Rayner's 'plain-speaking' style, while she will read the audiobook version herself. A friend of Ms Rayner's said at the time: 'There's been huge interest from publishers.  'This won't be your standard politician's memoir. It will be authentically Angela and in her own voice.' Alice Skinner, editorial director at Bodley Head, said: 'We are so delighted and proud to be publishing Angela Rayner. 'Her book will be unvarnished and upfront – you can expect her authenticity to shine through – and an empowering vision for a fairer, kinder society that will enable everyone to flourish.  'It will spark change, one reader at a time.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.