Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, has resigned from her position after an investigation found she breached the ministerial code by underpaying property tax on a £800,000 flat in Hove.
Rayner, had earlier this week admitted not paying enough of a surcharge on the flat purchase and referred herself to the government’s independent ethics adviser.
In a letter to Starmer, ethics chief Laurie Magnus wrote that Rayner had failed to “heed the caution” of legal advice she had received so he considered the “code to have been breached”.
In her resignation letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Rayner said,
“I accept that I did not meet the highest standards”, adding she would also be stepping down as housing minister and deputy leader of the Labour Party.
“I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice,” Rayner said, adding she took “full responsibility for this error”.
The controversy surrounded Rayner’s purchase of the flat, where she claimed it as her main residence and paid a lower stamp duty rate.
However, it was later discovered that she should have paid a higher rate due to her son being under 18 and still having an interest in the family home.
The independent ethics adviser, Laurie Magnus, found that Rayner failed to “heed the caution” of legal advice she received, thus breaching the ministerial code.
Rayner explained that after her 2023 divorce, she sold her share of the family home to a trust fund set up for her son, who has lifelong special needs, and used the money to help buy the flat.
She acknowledged that she paid less property surcharge due to claiming the flat as her main home, but later conceded this was incorrect.
Rayner’s resignation is a significant blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s embattled Labour government, which has faced numerous challenges since taking power in July 2024.
Starmer expressed sadness over losing Rayner, saying, “You will remain a major figure in our party.”
The resignation added to the government’s woes, with Labour currently trailing behind Reform UK in national polls.
Rayner, a figurehead among Labour’s left-wing base, had been tipped to potentially become Labour leader one day.
Her departure has sparked debate about the party’s future direction, with some calling for a full contest to debate key issues like wealth tax and privatization of services.
