Angela Rayner admits stamp duty error on £800 000 Hove flat, refers herself to ethics adviser. Image Professional Adviser.
(The Post News)– Angela Rayner has resigned as the deputy prime minister, housing secretary, and deputy leader of the Labour Party after the government’s ethics adviser ruled that she had broken the ministerial code by underpaying stamp duty on her £800,000 flat in Hove.
It is the most serious political setback yet for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had defended Rayner amid growing pressure for her resignation. The absence now of one of Labour’s most genuine working-class voices comes as industry looks down the barrel of dismal poll ratings against Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.
Ethics Adviser Finds Breach
Starmer’s independent ministerial standards adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, said Rayner “has acted with integrity” and “really dedicated herself to public service.” Rayner’s lack of seeking expert tax advice upon the purchase of her property, he concluded, was in violation of the ministerial code.
The ruling stated that Rayner paid around £30,000 in tax instead of the £70,000 higher rate. The tax law counted her as holding an interest in that property since she had placed her share in the family home in Ashton-Under-Lyne in trust for her disabled son. Hence, the Hove flat should have been treated as a second home, and an incidence of a higher tax accordingly.
Experts believe she now owes about £40,000 in back taxes and may be assessed a £12,000 penalty from the HMRC for what officials termed a careless error.
Rayner Takes Responsibility
Rayner’s letter of resignation accepted that she “simply had not come to meet the standards expected of a senior minister. Deeply regretfully, I did not seek additional specialist tax advice given both my position as housing secretary and my complex family arrangements. I take full responsibility for this error. It was never my intention to do anything other than pay the right amount.”
She explained that the stress of media attention was harder on her family. “It has been the honor of my life, from being a teenage mum on a council estate in Stockport to serving as deputy prime minister. But I have to think about my kids.” Starmer responded with a handwritten letter declaring that Rayner’s departure is “the right decision but sickeningly painful.”
“You have been a valued colleague and true friend,” he wrote. “You are still a key player in our party and continue to fight for causes you care so passionately about.”Rayner is the eighth and most senior minister to resign since Starmer became prime minister in July 2024. Analysts feel the cumulative resignations have really hurt Starmer’s credibility so gravely that this incident gives him the worst record early on for ministerial resignations in almost half a century.
The resignation, though, attracted heated reactions around Westminster. Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, told supporters that Rayner’s exit “screams entitlement” and accused Labour of “being as bad as, if not worse than, the government it replaced.”
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, accused Starmer of failing to act till the ethics matter arose. “It says everything about Keir Starmer’s weak leadership,” she said in a videotaped statement. “Angela Rayner dodged tax. She lied about it. Her position was untenable for days.”
The government finds her departure particularly awkward because she had pressed for increased property tax in a memo to Chancellor Rachel Reeves earlier this year. She maintained that the existing rules encouraged buyers to use shell companies to escape stamp duty.
Labour Party’s Next Steps
Starmer would be given the important news that there would be a reshuffle. While Rachel Reeves is still chancellor, Lucy Powell and Ian Murray have already been replaced as Commons leader and Scottish secretary.
Rayner’s resignation also leaves a gap for the deputy leader of Labour. A ballot is expected in the next few weeks, possibly opening a new front in the internal politics of Labour and providing grassroots members with an opportunity to register their unease with Starmer’s leadership.
The housing department, which Rayner was responsible for delivering Labour’s flagship pledge of 1.5 million homes over the course of this Parliament, is also looking at disruption at a key moment.
Some colleagues paid warm tribute to her. Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, praised her “huge achievements” in council housing and workers’ rights. Environment Secretary Steve Reed added that she should be “very proud of all that you have done for our country and party.”
But critics contend her resignation is yet another sign of how Labour is vulnerable to the charge of hypocrisy as the government weighs up some difficult decisions on taxation and spending.
For Starmer, losing his deputy is a huge gap from cabinet and politics to strategy, raising grave doubts about whether Starmer could hold his party together under intense challenge from Mr. Farage and the Reform Party.
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