Angela Rayner’s Tattoo – All you need to know

The Angela Rayner Tattoo – All you need to know

Angela Rayner is the 43 year old deputy leader of the Labour Party and Shadow First Secretary of State.  She would likely become deputy prime minister in any future Labour government.

Angela Rayner has a prominent tattoo of a Labour red rose on the back of her right leg, just above her ankle.

The red rose was introduced as the Labour Party logo under the leadership of Neil Kinnock in 1986.

The use of the Red Rose by the Labour Party was said to have been the idea of Peter Mandelson, who would go on to become a cabinet minister and key figure in the New Labour years under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Mr Mandelson was the director of communications under Kinnock at the time.  The image was created by designer Michael Wolff.

Ask whether her tattoo is a tribute to New Labour’s red rose in an interview with The Times, Angela Rayner explained that, “My political party is like my family. I came from a dysfunctional home, so the Labour Party was a place where I felt nurtured and could be who I wanted to be.”

Angela Rayner was born in Stockport on 28 March 1980.  Before becoming a Labour MP, Rayner was a Trade Union officer with UNISON and a care worker in Greater Manchester.

In 2017, Ms Rayner announced that she had become a grandmother, at the comparatively young age of 37, doing so with the hashtag #Grangela.  Rayner is 17 years younger than Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer.  However she is 1 year older than current prime minister, Rishi Sunak.

Angela Rayner is far from the only public figure to have a tattoo.  David Cameron’s wife, Samantha Cameron, also had a tattoo on her ankle. It has also been rumoured that Queen Victoria had a tattoo of a tiger and a python on her arm.