Wes Streeting has called for Angela Rayner to return to government just weeks after she resigned after it emerged she had not paid enough tax.
He told Labour conference in Liverpool: “We need her back.”
It came as he unveiled £500 million investment for the first ever “fair pay agreement” for care worker pay, the health secretary said: “There’s someone else who’s made a real difference too, who understands the struggle care workers face, because she was one.
“She brought that experience to the Cabinet table as the care worker who became our country’s deputy prime minister.
“Angela Rayner, this achievement is yours. Thank you.
“And we want her back as well.”
He added: “We’ll definitely make sure she sees that. We need her back.”
Ms Rayner resigned after she admitted she did not pay enough stamp duty on the purchase of her £800,000 seaside flat.
The then deputy prime minister insisted she made a mistake based on the advice she received at the time.
But she quit her job as housing secretary and deputy prime minister, as well as her role as deputy leader of the Labour Party.
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