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Rayner vs right-wing media: A breakdown of the 'class-based' attacks | LBC
Aug 23, 2025
Shelagh Fogarty is joined by LBC’s Political Editor, Natasha Clark, to examine the ‘class-based’ criticism aimed at Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner by sections of the right-wing media. Rayner was photographed on Hove beach wearing a Dryrobe and drinking a glass of wine, an image some commentators seized upon to argue it undermines her ‘woman of the people’ image. But Shelagh and Natasha suggest this reaction exposes a deeper “snobbery in this country,” noting that Rayner is often criticised through a class lens, regardless of what she does. Shelagh points out that whether it’s going to Ibiza, attending the opera, or simply visiting the beach, the Deputy Prime Minister seems destined to face scrutiny framed around her background and image. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #shelaghfogarty #angelarayner #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
View Video Transcript
0:00
The tale of Angela Rayner and the things she does in her downtime
0:04
She goes to Ibiza and she's criticised. She goes to the opera and she's too common to go to the opera
0:10
She goes to the beach. She's too middle class to go to the beach or to have a drink or whatever
0:15
I don't know what's... She can't... Whichever way she turns, Angela Rayner is like a kind of receptacle
0:21
for the snobberies in this country, particularly those wielded by the right-wing press in this country, I would say
0:28
and Natasha Clark, not Angela Rayner, Natasha Clark is here to talk to me about this
0:32
Just because we're both gingery, that doesn't mean you can make that mistake I'm afraid
0:36
Listen, this is yet another example isn't it of where the Daily Mail and the like
0:40
goes after Angela Rayner, we'll come to other politicians but goes after Angela Rayner in a very particular way and they really, they want it every way
0:50
the woman can't do anything without them finding some class-based reason to criticise her
0:54
Yeah, I think that's fair to say. And, you know, the way that the Daily Mail and other newspapers
1:00
have sort of written up these pictures, which were splashed across some of the papers in the last couple of days
1:05
Angela Rayner having a drink on the beach. In Sussex, not in Rio de Janeiro
1:11
In Hove, enjoying a, I think many would say, well-deserved summer holiday, as we all should be
1:16
On a shingly beach. On a shingly, very nice-looking beach, wearing quite a posh dry-robed jacket
1:22
as has been described by the Mail. it's a dry robe. You're into swimming, aren't you
1:28
I've got a dry robe. Have you? They are very nice and they are very expensive. And actually you know what I 160 quid It quite a lot for basically what a posh towel in a it it more no no no it more than a posh towel yeah it a it a waterproof gore coat with fabulous lining in the middle that helps you to dry off when you come out of
1:45
the cold water it does look great um i do see a lot of people around town wearing them don't you
1:49
and i think i'm not sure that's maybe a slight step too far you mean wearing them as normal coats
1:53
yeah no i don't like that idea not walking the dog in them no no no no not for me not for me um
1:58
She, yes, so basically these pictures have been slightly twisted and slightly, you know, seized upon by some of Angela Arena's critics
2:09
Saying, you know, talking about the fact that she's trying, at the same time, she's sipping rosé on a beach
2:14
She's going to be, you know, taking war to the middle classes with her council tax reforms, which potentially might put up your bill by hundreds of pounds
2:21
It'll stop you buying a dry robe and a glass of wine. You too. But, you know, it's just an example
2:27
Like you say, can politicians? firstly enjoy anything is there anything that angela rena can do right um or is it completely
2:33
hypocritical for for for our politicians to for us to want to see really normal working class
2:39
politicians not spending the money on anything and not going out and not enjoying themselves or even people who are very wealthy you know let them spend their money i say yeah and obviously
2:49
you know do we want is this really the best we can hope for our politicians it very much feels
2:54
like as a media as a society they they can do no right you know we complain when they're really
2:58
boring we complain when they're having fun we complain when they're doing their own thing we
3:02
complain when they're having a drink we complain when they're not and am i right in saying that the mail article said it was a huge glass of wine when in fact we since learned it was actually a huge glass of gin and tonic which as you know comes in a very big glass Could have been Tanqueray Zero for all we know Yes I told that I think it was a gin and tonic that what I was told
3:20
But yes, the mail had said it was rosé, and I think their funny little caption was
3:25
you know, everything's looking rosé for Angela Rayner. Very funny. You know, but compare this to other coverage
3:32
where you might see, you know, you might see an alternative headline, you know, Angela Rayner stuns in camouflage dry robe
3:37
sipping large glass of wine on beach looking amazing. We don't get those
3:42
Or she keeps it British and goes to the beach in Sussex. Yeah, which we might have seen, you know
3:47
Boris Johnson ditches family holiday, decides to spend it in Cornwall in real patriotic show of support with big flag behind him
3:53
And it's, you know, the way that we paint our politicians differently, right? But also with Labour, there was a great deal
4:00
I think personally it was justified, but a great deal of criticism for the freebies that they took
4:04
to dress well and have the right specs and all that. Um, but it, so we're saying don't take money to pay for things, to pay for those things
4:13
And then when Angela Rayner buys her own drink or her own coat, it's not the right coat
4:18
No, and she shouldn't be spending that much money on the coat anyway. Yeah, it's just silly, isn't it? The whole thing
4:22
It's tough, isn't it, when you are a politician, where is the line between how in touch with the public you are or out of touch
4:29
And obviously, you know, when we think about former politicians, we think about Rishi Sunak being an incredibly wealthy man
4:34
Did that make him a bad prime minister? um you know some would say no some would say yes he was out of touch and didn't get me in my problems
4:40
and you know didn't understand the plight of the working man but then you have people like you know
4:44
boris johnson and nigel farage arguably of course in their own right very rich men very rich individuals but many people say they do understand what it like to to be me and they they do get and have that connection and that touch with the public um i don think it be unfair of me to say that keir starmer probably does struggle to
5:00
to be in touch with the common working man apart from when he's talking about football which seems
5:04
to light up his face and seems to sort of make him a bit more of a normal guy um but angela
5:09
is not allowed to do anything that might make her normal even having um a glass of rose or a glass
5:14
of gin and tonic on the beach. Thankfully, she seems well able for this nonsense, doesn't she
5:18
I'm not sure she's bothered in the slightest. I think she very much shrugs it off. I think she said, you know, there was pictures of her DJing in Ibiza
5:24
I think, last summer and said, I can take a day off, you know. And it was the same with the opera pictures, you know
5:30
saying when she was pictured going to the opera, well, why on earth shouldn't she go to the opera
5:35
But yes, I think it just goes, it does go something to the heart of our politics
5:39
about how difficult it is. Who would want to be a politician? I was going to say, you will never really know who it puts off, will we
5:44
But I would guess it puts people off joining politics. Yeah, I think so
5:48
If knowing that every sort of move that you make is going to be scrutinised in the way that it is
5:52
And I think especially as a woman, and I speak to a lot of female MPs who say, would you ever like to become an MP
5:57
And I say, absolutely not. Not for the criticism and the scrutiny that you get. Well, for the record, the dress I'm wearing today cost about £24.99 in H&M about five years ago
6:05
Oh, this is from H&M too. My shirt's from H&M. It's quite cheap, actually. I think it was about £20
6:10
is that a posh watch? it is quite a posh watch actually yeah
6:13
this is a Garmin watch, is that too posh to yeah a few hundred pounds
6:18
you deserve it, you work hard I know, I treated myself at Christmas good woman of the cheap shirts and cheap dresses
6:24
thank you very much Natasha, Natasha Clark LBC's political editor
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