Rayner's exit is a bombshell. But the real crisis for Starmer may have only just begun | Jonathan Freedland

"A government that was already reeling has sustained another massive blow. Elected in a landslide slightly more than a year ago, Labour hit the midterm blues within a few months, currently has the poll numbers of an administration in its dying days and has now witnessed a scandal and resignation close to the apex of power. Perhaps the many New Labour veterans now installed in Downing Street will be reassuring Keir Starmer that the storm of Angela Rayner's departure will pass,"

"reminding him that the Blair cabinet saw the exit of one Peter Mandelson also over his homeowning arrangements, as it happens similarly early in the first term, but paid no electoral price. And yet, the prime minister has only to look at the economic numbers and his own popularity ratings to know that this is not 1998 and he is no Tony Blair."

Labour was elected in a landslide just over a year ago but quickly hit midterm decline and now registers poll numbers typical of a government in its final days. A scandal and a resignation at the apex of power have compounded the political damage. Angela Rayner resigned as deputy prime minister and deputy party leader, delivering a serious blow to an administration that has struggled since taking office. A resignation undermines perceptions of competence and fuels fears of chaos at the top. The prime minister's offer of technocratic calm is weakened by poor economic figures and falling popularity. Earlier revelations about ministers accepting freebies further eroded the pledge to end Westminster sleaze.

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