Newspaper headlines: 'The great Rayner reshuffle' and 'Nightmare on Downing Street'
The resignation of Angela Rayner, and the resulting reshuffle, is the main story on all the front pages. The Daily Mail calls it a "Nightmare on Downing Street", saying Labour is in "meltdown". It calls the reshuffle "chaotic" and "desperate". The Guardian says Sir Keir Starmer is "battling to get a grip" on a crisis, and that the sweeping changes are an attempt to restore order and "get back on the front foot".
The Times calls it "The Great Rayner Reshuffle" and thinks its scale, just over a year after winning a landslide election, reflects deep concern about the government's collapse in the polls and the rise of Reform UK. The Financial Times calls the reshuffle a "big gamble" - because many ministers have simply been moved to new jobs rather than been sacked, raising questions about whether their performance will actually improve.
The Daily Mirror describes the loss of Rayner as a "serious blow" for Sir Keir Starmer. It says the row will have caused damage to the government, stoking anger about politicians breaking the rules - but that her absence will be felt.
The paper says: "Angela Rayner is someone who could reach places that the PM can't, which is part of why their opposites-attract partnership made sense." The Sun says she was "cut adrift" but thinks the trouble she has caused the prime minister could get a lot worse. "To her legions of militant supporters," it says, "she is far from a busted flush - she is a martyr, and soon quite possibly their Red Queen over the water".
The Daily Telegraph says Downing Street hopes the reshaped top team can counter the threat from Reform UK, and even "take the fight" to Nigel Farage.
Farage is the focus for the Daily Express. It leads with his warning that Labour are "not fit to govern" - saying he "twisted the knife" in a stricken government with his claim that his party could win a general election in two years' time.
