As Westminster ponders what impact last week’s reshuffle might have on the direction and instincts of the government, and its capacity to deliver, the resignation of Angela Rayner leaves one still unfilled vacancy.

Her former government jobs, deputy prime minister and housing secretary, have been taken by David Lammy and Steve Reed respectively.

But her role as deputy leader of the Labour Party, a position directly elected by Labour’s members, is now being contested.

Westminster likes elections like nothing else, and here comes another one.

The timetable is tight. Nominations open today, with a winner announced on 25 October.

To stand, candidates must have the backing of at least 80 MPs and secure that backing this week, and either 5% of local parties or three Labour affiliated groups.

The left wing Labour MP Richard Burgon, who served on Jeremy Corbyn’s front bench, described it as “the mother of all stitch ups” and later added “despite the stitch up, Labour members deserve a Left candidate on the ballot.”

But plenty in government and in the wider party want to get the contest done quickly and with minimal noise.

The party’s general secretary Hollie Ridley told Labour MPs that it was essential that “we will remain mindful that the Labour Party’s primary duty is to serve the country”,

Translation: let’s not tear ourselves to shreds in public with Labour folk falling over themselves to say why the government hasn’t been good enough.

“If there’s a contest and you’re in government, it is very hard to see how it goes well,” one longstanding Labour figure tells me.

“We should take the opportunity to abolish the post altogether. It’s existence only feeds factional infighting,” another MP texts, just ahead of the timetable for the contest being set out.

This vacancy coincides with a reshuffle that many within the party and beyond regarded as the government tilting to the Right.

When the Telegraph of all news organs heralded what it called “a welcome Rightwards shift,” then perhaps it is little wonder that some on the party’s soft Left as well as hard Left might be jittery.

And then that they might want those jitters to be expressed and personified in who replaces Angela Rayner.

“If the leadership put forward a serving minister, it could backfire quite badly. The reshuffle was about a particular faction in the party. It eliminated the soft Left from positions of influence,” claims a Labour veteran.

Probably the best Downing Street can hope for is a constructive critic of the government, who can act as a pressure valve for party members, but not be too noisy or disloyal.

But does such a person come forward, and do they win the contest?

And in the meantime, how loud does the contest become?

Then afterwards, at the end of next month, the Prime Minister will have to work out what to do with the party’s new deputy.

Recent precedent suggests they take a role in government – as Angela Rayner did, and as Harriet Harman did, when she won the deputy leadership in 2007 when Labour was in government.

But perhaps that won’t happen this time.

“I think that is less of a consideration actually,” the health secretary Wes Streeting has said.

The consequences of the Angela Rayner property saga are not over yet for Labour.

The murder of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a train in North Carolina last month has sparked ongoing concerns about crime in the US.

A video released on Friday by the Charlotte Area Transit System shows Ms Zarutska seated on a train when she is stabbed from behind several times in what appears to be a random attack.

The suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr, is charged with first-degree murder. The graphic video has circulated on social media, attracting the attention of influencers, commentators and politicians.

Charlotte’s mayor on Monday called the killing “a tragic failure by the courts and magistrates”. She vowed to deploy more officers to public transit sites.

President Donald Trump sent “love and hope” to Ms Zarutska’s family, saying on Monday that her killing was “horrible”.

“There are evil people. We have to be able to handle that. If we don’t handle that, we don’t have a country,” he said.

Outrage at the case comes as President Donald Trump threatens crime crackdowns in Democrat-run cities.

In an online obituary, Ms Zarutska’s family wrote that she fled the war in Ukraine along with her mother and siblings in 2022, and had “quickly embraced her new life in the United States”.

It said she was a “gifted and passionate artist”, loved animals, and was “happiest when surrounded by family and loved ones”.

“Her absence leaves a deep void, but her spirit will forever remain in the hearts of those who loved her”.

North Carolina Governor Josh Stein said he was “appalled” by the footage of Ms Zarutska’s killing.

“We need more cops on the beat to keep people safe,” the Democratic governor said on X, and called for the state legislature to pass a law enforcement package to “address vacancies in our state and local agencies so they can stop these horrific crimes and hold violent criminals accountable”.

Republicans and right-wing commentators have raised questions about the role of the judicial system in the incident, including why Brown was free despite reportedly having an extensive criminal record.

He was convicted of armed robbery, felony larceny and break and enter, according to records obtained by CNN, and spent eight years in jail for robbery with a dangerous weapon. He also suffers from mental health issues and is homeless, according to media reports.

In her statement, Mayor Lyles said that a solution is needed “to address repeated offenders who do not face consequences for their actions and those who cannot get treatment for their mental illness and are allowed to be on the streets”.

The suspect’s mother, who didn’t want to be identified, told local news outlet WSOC-TV that she believes the attack could have been prevented.

North Carolina Representative Brenden Jones, a Republican, wrote on X that Ms Zarutska’s death “is the result of decades of Democrat DAs and Sheriffs putting their woke agendas above public safety. Violent criminals commit crimes with impunity, while families live in fear.”

Republican Florida Congressman Randy Fine said he would “introduce legislation to hold judges accountable when violent repeat offenders they release commit new crimes”.

“Those 12+ judges that released Decarlos Brown Jr should have their day in court too,” he added.

While declining to comment on the specifics of the case, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather outlined the challenges of holding defendants with mental health issues accountable for their actions.

In an interview with Axios, he said many are held in hospitals while courts wait for them to be mentally able to stand trial.

New league tables rating the performance of NHS trusts in England have been published for the first time, with specialist hospitals taking the top slots.

Number one is Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, followed by the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, and the Christie NHS Foundation Trust.

At the bottom is Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn, which has had major problems with its buildings because of structural weaknesses and the need for props to hold up ceilings.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the tables will identify where “urgent support is needed”.

“Patients know when local services aren’t up to scratch,” he said, “and they want to see an end to the postcode lottery – that’s what this government is doing.”

The public will be able to check out the performance of their local hospital, ambulance service or mental health trust.

Trusts in England are ranked every three months and placed in four categories – with the top performers given more power over how they spend their money and those lower down encouraged to learn from the best trusts and receive support from national officials.

A spokesperson for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital said: “Our patients deserve the highest standards of care, and we are sorry that in some of our performance areas… we have fallen short. Immediate steps are being taken to address the issues.”

But NHS Providers, representing trusts, said there were question marks over whether the league tables were accurately identifying the best performing organisations.

Chief executive Daniel Elkeles said: “For league tables to really drive up standards, tackle variations in care, and boost transparency, they need to measure the right things, be based on accurate, clear and objective data and avoid measuring what isn’t in individual providers’ gift to improve.

“Then they will drive improvement and boost performance. Anything less could lead to unintended consequences, potentially damaging patient confidence in local health services, demoralising hardworking NHS staff and skewing priorities.”

The Department of Health said that from next year the best performing trusts would have more freedom to develop services around local needs while those facing challenges would receive “enhanced support” with their bosses held accountable with their pay reduced because of poor performance.

The highest rated leaders will be offered bigger pay packets to try to turn around struggling trusts.

The metrics used to draw up the rankings include patient waiting times for planned treatment and A&E care and also the financial performance of the trust. It is possible that a hospital rated highly for clinical care will be marked down if they are running up a larger than expected deficit.

Thea Stein, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust think thank, said it was understandable that the government was focussed on winning back public trust but added a note of caution.

“There’s a risk that trusts will focus only on the measures that immediately boost their ranking, even if it’s not necessarily best for patients,” she said. “As finances have a particular sway on the rankings, this is of limited use for patients trying to choose the best hospital for their care.”

Chris McCann from Healthwatch England said any league table must inform and not confuse people.

“It will be essential that the new dashboard clearly communicates the information that is most important to patients and that it is as accessible as possible,” he said.

Israel has carried out air strikes in the central and western parts of Syria, the country’s state news agency said on Monday night.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry condemned the air strikes as “a blatant infringement” of its sovereignty and regional stability, Reuters reported.

There was no immediate comment from Israel. Previously the defence minister Israel Katz said, “forces are operating in all combat zones day and night for the security of Israel”.

Israel has carried out dozens of attacks across Syria after the fall of ex-President Bashar al-Assad in December, which saw an Islamist-led government set up by former rebels.

Israel said at the time it was acting to stop weapons falling “into the hands of extremists”.

Attacks were reported near Homs and Palmyra, as well as on the coastal city of Latakia, Sana said late on Monday.

Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said “the Israeli strike near Homs targeted a military unit south of the city”.

There’s been no word on casualties.

This year, Israel has conducted 97 attacks – 86 air strikes and 11 land operations – according to the SOHR.

Sana reported earlier this month that Israeli soldiers detained seven people in the southern province of Quneitra, whom the Israeli army said at the time were “suspected of terrorist activity”.

In July, Israel bombed Syrian government forces around Suweida in the country’s south as the army entered the predominantly Druze city following deadly sectarian clashes.