I warned Angela Rayner would be back - but I didn't think she'd crack it THIS quickly

Within hours of Angela Rayner's resignation departure I wrote: "Thought you'd seen the last of Angela Rayner? Think again." The deputy PM had quit in disgrace, ridiculed as "three pads" Rayner, after dodging a £40,000 stamp duty bill on her £800,000 Hove flat. Not a good look.

Especially for a party that's so hungry to hike taxes on everybody else. It was embarrassing for Keir Starmer too. He'd promised to clean up politics.

Anyone who thought that was the end of Rayner's career didn't understand her - or Labour. Her supporters inside and outside Westminster have never wavered.

They see her as authentic, northern, working class and plain-spoken. Rightly or wrongly, they also view her as having a hotline to the so-called 'Red Wall' of disgruntled white working class voters, and can help lure them away from Nigel Farage. And that's all that matters.

That's why I warned she'd be back fast. Also, she's the type. But even I didn't expect it to happen so soon.

Two weeks ago, Rayner fired her first warning shot, with talk of a pact with Mayor of Mancester Andy Burnham to take revenge on Starmer by replacing him.

That's gone quiet for now and personally, I think Rayner can do better. Burnham shot his bolt and missed badly. He now needs Rayner, more than she needs him.

'Red Ange' skipped Labour's conference in Liverpool, but her shadow was everywhere.

What did surprise me was how brazenly senior Labour Party members are clearing a path for her return.

Health secretary Wes Streeting was glowing as he told delegates: "We need her back". Energy secretary Ed Miliband went out of his way to praise his "friend Angela Rayner".

Her replacement as Housing Secretary, Steve Reed, called her a "true working-class hero". Even Starmer hinted she'd be a "major voice again in the Labour movement".

She's got quite a fan club there. How did she crack it so quickly?

Embattled Labour is desperate to embrace a figure who for all her failings, has a character and connection that the rest of its front bench will never have.

Rayner is a divisive figure and some people really can't stand her. But that could be an advantage too. These are divisive times.

Labour sees her as a bridge to working-class voters, the unions and left-wing activivsts.

The rush to rehabilitate shows how desperate Labour has become. It's effectively gambling that voters will forgive a £40,000 tax dodge because of what Rayner represents. That's an insult to the very people the party claims to speak for.

Most working class people still think it's right that people pay their taxes. Especially if they've got enough money to afford a plush second home.

Even more so if they're a politician who spends their days dreaming up new taxes to hit the rest of us.

Labour's timing is tricky. Bring Rayner back too quickly and it looks brazen. Wait too long and her influence could fade. But either way, Red Ange will return. The only question is when.