From a council estate to the Houses of Parliament

When Angela Rayner was growing up she went to her gran’s house for a bath on Sundays because her parents couldn’t always afford hot water. She lived in a council estate in a home with no books and both her parents were on benefits. Now she’s shadow education secretary, and her inspiring story shows that ordinary women can both make it into politics and can make change happen. She recently gave a speech at UNISON’s women’s conference and we caught up with her to find out how she went from a council estate to the heart of Westminster.   If you’ve ever seen Angela Rayner speak you’ll know that she’s bright, bold, warm and very, very northern. Angela’s description of her childhood shows she didn’t have it easy. In the playground, she was the poorest of the poor, and for her, school was a chance to get a hot meal at lunchtime because she didn’t have breakfast. On the council estate she was bullied for her red hair. Angela’s mum couldn’t read or write, and was diagnosed bipolar. Angela felt like she lacked love in the home, and says her mum has even told her that she didn’t know how to love her. Inevitably, she says, she went looking for love, and that’s how she ended up pregnant at sixteen. She was six months pregnant when she collected her GCSE results, and Angela remembers people looking and judging her. “They all said that I’d amount to nothing, and I’d be on benefits all my life and have kids with different dads and live in a council ...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article 2017 National Women's Conference angela rayner homecare homecare workers inequality labour link Labour Party unison women Source Type: news