​Angela Rayner wins emotional standing ovation as she returns to limelight at Labour conference

Angela Rayner wins emotional standing ovation as she returns to limelight at Labour conference In a powerful moment the top Labour Cabinet minister, who returned back to the heart of government by Andy Burnham in July, told delegates: 'I don't often cry, but nearly. It's so good to be back' Angela Rayner won an emotional standing ovation today as she returned to the limelight on the main stage at Labour's annual conference. In a powerful moment, the top Labour Cabinet minister, who was appointed back to the heart of government by Andy Burnham in July, told delegates: "I don't often cry, but nearly. It's so good to be back". "It's good to be back at conference, back in Government, and back here in Liverpool." The Labour heavyweight's notable absence weighed heavily on last year's annual gathering after her abrupt resignation from Keir Starmer's top team amid a row over unpaid stamp duty on her seaside home in Brighton. Now back in the Cabinet with a prime spot address - just hours before the Prime Minister's key speech - she paid tribute to those who stood-by her side over the last 12 months on Labour's backbenches. She said: "I want to start by saying a big thank you to everyone here. Your work got us into government, we wouldn't be here without you, and I certainly wouldn't be here without you. "The support received from so many people here over the last year has meant so much to me personally. The Labour movement is a family to me, and that's the thing about our movement: we are here not just for ourselves, but we're here for each other. And you've been there for me, and I'm here for you." Ms Rayner, who was cleared of deliberate wrongdoing earlier this year, made clear to a captivated audience in the main conference hall in Liverpool she was back to deliver on "unfinished business" after returning to the fold. The Housing Secretary - a key brief in Burnham's programme for government - won a massive round of applause as she promised to confront the "scandal faced by millions of leaseholders who have found their dream of home ownership turned into a nightmare." She said the government was "ending the injustice of fleeceholds", adding: "Abolishing the sickening threats of people's homes being snatched away by their landlord for the slightest breach, and we're finally dealing with ground rents." Ms Rayner said: "Ground rents are not the only rip-off. I've heard of leaseholders being charged £250 for permission to own a pet, £400 for permission to change their own front door, and then a further £60 fee to put a doorbell on that door - just for the basic right to do what you want in your own home. "Yet another example of how people feel powerless. Powerless against the vested interests that only take while giving nothing back in return, which is why we will also cap outrageous administration and permission fees for leaseholders. I'm taking every action to empower people in their own homes." She added: "It is not just some freeholders that can exploit leaseholders and tenants. Estate agents, letting agents and property management agents can too. A sector with many decent businesses, of course - but they are undermined and undercut by far too many cowboys, crooks and con artists. And home owners, renters and leaseholders pay the price through hidden fees and traps." Promising a crackdown, she went on: "We will legislate for independent regulation to rein these cowboys in. "They will be required to follow the rules and if they don't - their licences will be taken away. Public control, in the public interest - no matter what vested interests stand in our way." And Ms Rayner promised to give local leaders "more powers" to tackle homelessness and reduce reliance on record levels of temporary accommodation. She told the Labour Party conference: "For those homes that sit idle and unused, we will make it easier for councils to bring these homes back into use for desperate families who need them. "Sweeping away Tory barriers that hampered our local leaders from taking action. This is why I am also announcing more powers for local leaders to tackle homelessness and to ensure that they have the homes that their communities need." Ms Rayner, who delivered the final major speech ahead of the Prime Minister's key address, also won laughter as she used her 20-minute speech to deliver a joke at embattled Reform leader Nigel Farage's expense. Referring to his personalised videos on the Cameo site - alongside £72 million in donations from crypto billionaires to Reform - she told the conference: "If he'll sing you happy birthday for seventy quid, just imagine what he'd do for seventy million. He's shown whose side he's on." She added: "Let's remember on everything we have done for workers' rights, for renters' rights, Nigel Farage and Reform fought us every step of the way. But they've been exposed, haven't they? "Farage isn't standing up to vested interests. He's falling at their feet. Does anyone really think that Farage's crypto billionaire sugar daddies are handing him millions, because he's standing up for the working people of Britain? Give me a break."