It has been confirmed that a reshuffle will now take place
Angela Rayner has stood down from government after the prime minister’s ethics adviser found she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside flat.
In a significant blow to Sir Keir Starmer, Sir Laurie Magnus said Rayner had “acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service”.
However, he concluded she had breached the ministerial code over her tax affairs.
Rayner’s resignation is deeply damaging for the Prime Minister, who initially stood firmly by her, leaving his authority badly bruised.
She has quit as Deputy Prime Minister, Housing Secretary, and deputy leader of the Labour party.
It has been confirmed that a reshuffle will now take place, but Rachel Reeves will remain chancellor.
In her resignation letter, Rayner said she “deeply regrets” her decision not to seek “additional specialist tax advice” over her purchase of the Hove property.
She added she “must also consider the significant toll that the ongoing pressure of the media is taking” on her family.
Reflecting on her journey from “a teenage mum from a council estate in Stockport” to the highest level of government, Rayner described it as “the honour of my life”.
Her departure removes one of Labour’s most authentic working-class voices at a time when the party is struggling to reconnect with its traditional voter base and trailing Reform UK in the polls.
Rayner had referred herself to the ethics adviser after confirming she would have to pay more stamp duty after incorrectly paying the lower rate on the Hove flat.
At the time, she said she “deeply regretted” the error.
Her comments after classifying the flat as her only property despite spending much of her time with her children at the family home in Ashton, Greater Manchester.
Months before buying the Hove property, she had placed her stake in the Ashton house into a trust set up in 2020 to manage a payment to one of her sons, who had been left with lifelong disabilities following a “deeply personal and distressing incident” as a premature baby.
Following the revelations, Angela Rayner faced charges of hypocrisy, as the government is expected to increase taxes on property owners in the upcoming autumn budget.
Reacting to the resignation, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said “it’s only because of Keir Starmer’s weakness that she wasn’t sacked three days ago”.
She said Starmer’s government is in crisis, stating that “all of this is a distraction from the profound economic crisis the country is facing because of his decisions”.
She added: “One rule for them, another for everyone else. The country deserves better; only the Conservatives under my leadership will deliver that.”
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