Angela Rayner has fired a warning shot across the bow of her own government, urging Prime Minister Keir Starmer to ignore the "furious lobbying" of wealthy investors and deliver on Labour's promise to end the leasehold scandal.

In a fiery op-ed and subsequent speeches, the Deputy Prime Minister has framed the battle over capping ground rents as a fight for the soul of the party. [...](asc_slot://start-slot-17)Her intervention comes amid reports that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is hesitant to implement a hard cap, fearing it could spook pension funds and destabilize the housing market.

"Whose Side Are We On?"

"Is this Labour party for rich investors or hard-working leaseholders?" Rayner asked, invoking the class-warrior rhetoric that makes her the darling of the party's left. She argues that the current system is "feudal," forcing millions of homeowners to pay "rent" on properties they already own, often to faceless offshore companies.

Rayner's stance is that the government must be "unapologetically Labour." This phrase is being interpreted as a call to stop drifting towards the center-right to appease the City of London. "We didn't win a landslide to manage the status quo," she told a private gathering of MPs.

• The Policy Clash: The proposed reforms would cap ground rents at a "peppercorn" rate (effectively zero). Landlords and freeholders argue this is an expropriation of assets worth billions. Rayner argues that these assets were built on exploitation.
• Starmer's Dilemma: The Prime Minister is caught between his "Iron Chancellor" Reeves, who preaches fiscal prudence, and his Deputy Rayner, who demands social justice. The decision on the leasehold bill will be a litmus test for his premiership.

The Political Stakes

For Rayner, this is personal. She has championed housing reform for years. If the government waters down the bill, it risks alienating the millions of leaseholders who voted Labour expecting change. By going public, Rayner has effectively dared Starmer to blink.