THE UK LABOUR Party’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has found herself the subject of renewed scrutiny – and a police investigation – over whether she broke electoral law and paid enough tax when selling her house a decade ago.
Manchester police are investigating Rayner’s tax payment that came with the sale of her council house in 2015, which she said was her primary residence – a claim contradicted by her neighbours.
Her husband was living in a separate home at the time.
Police had initially said they would not be investigating the allegations but reversed that position after the neighbours’ comments were brought to light by James Daly, the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.
“We’re investigating whether any offences have been committed,” a police spokesperson said.
“This follows a reassessment of the information provided to us by Mr Daly.”
Rayner has said she did “nothing wrong” and that the controversy about her tax affairs was “manufactured” in an attempt to smear her.
The Labour Party has said it remains confident Rayner complied with the rules, and that she “welcomes the chance to set out the facts with the police”.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has previously said the Conservatives are “chasing a smear” in raising questions about deputy leader.
MAIL ON SUNDAY: ‘Hypocrite Rayner’s 48k profit on council house sale #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/JVqfv84nNW
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) February 24, 2024
When Keir Starmer took over the leadership of the Labour Party in 2020, one of the challengers he beat to the top spot was Angela Rayner, an MP for Ashton-under-Lyne on the periphery of Manchester city.
While Starmer very much represents the right of the party, Rayner describes herself as a socialist and part of the “soft left”. Also unlike Starmer, who comes from the affluent county of Surrey near London, Rayner comes from a working class background and left school at the age of 16.
For these reasons, she is seen as a balancing presence in the shadow cabinet of the Starmer-led Labour Party, which has tacked to the right since Starmer was elected leader following the departure of Jeremy Corbyn.
She has been the subject of personal attacks by the Conservative Party and conservative media outlets.
The most high-profile of these came when The Mail on Sunday quoted unnamed Tory MPs who said she had tried to distract then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Parliament by crossing and uncrossing her legs during debates.
The article and commentary were widely condemned as sexist and misogynist by MPs across the House of Commons.
Rayner is the shadow deputy prime minister as well as shadow secretary for “levelling up” and housing and communities.
A book by former Tory deputy chairman Michael Ashcroft alleged that Rayner failed to properly declare her main home when selling her council house in 2015, the same year she became an MP and the year of her wedding.
The unauthorised biography alleges that she bought her house in Manchester with a 25% discount in 2007 under a right-to-buy scheme.
She is said to have made a £48,500 profit when selling the house eight years later.
UK government guidance says that a tenant can apply to buy their council home through the right-to-buy scheme if it is their “only or main home”.
Her husband was listed at another address about a mile away, which had also been bought under the right-to-buy scheme.
Rayner is said to have re-registered the births of her two youngest children, giving her address as her husband’s home.
Rayner has insisted that her house was her primary residence despite her husband living elsewhere.
Conservative politicians have used the situation to accuse her of hypocrisy for engaging in the kinds of activity she has spent her career calling out.
Includes reporting from Press Association
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