Angela Rayner Resigns as Deputy Prime Minister Over Stamp Duty Scandal
London – Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has resigned from government in a stunning fall from grace, after admitting she failed to pay the correct amount of stamp duty on a second home.
The resignation marks the dramatic end to the meteoric rise of one of British politics' most prominent figures, who went from being a pregnant 16-year-old with no qualifications to holding the second-highest office in the land.
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Sir Keir Starmer’s right-hand woman announced her decision after a tearful interview with Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, in which she conceded she had not paid enough tax on a flat she purchased in Hove, East Sussex, earlier this year.
"I have always taken my responsibilities as Deputy Prime Minister," Ms. Rayner said in her resignation statement. "I have long believed that people who serve the British public in government, must always observe the highest standards".
The controversy centred on Ms. Rayner’s assertion that the Hove property was not technically a second home for tax purposes. She explained that a complex 'nesting arrangement' for her children, following her divorce, and the establishment of a trust for her disabled son, Charlie, led her to believe she was exempt from the higher stamp duty rate.
Her son Charlie, 17, received NHS compensation due to the circumstances of his birth, which left him with lifelong disabilities. Ms. Rayner explained she sold her stake in the family’s main home in Ashton-under-Lyne to a trust set up to manage this compensation, using the funds as a deposit for the Hove flat.
However, after media reports claimed she had avoided as much as £40,000 in tax, the situation unravelled. The lawyers who provided her initial advice publicly stated they had not given tax guidance and were being made 'scapegoats'.
Before her resignation, a visibly emotional Ms. Rayner told the Electoral Dysfunction podcast she had discussed, "packing it all in", with her family due to the intense scrutiny.
Her departure leaves a significant vacuum at the heart of Sir Keir Starmer’s government. Appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary after Labour's general election victory last summer, Ms. Rayner was tasked with delivering one of the government’s flagship policies: building 1.5 million new homes.
She had already begun a radical overhaul of planning rules through a new bill currently making its way through Parliament, aimed at unblocking major infrastructure projects and fast-tracking development.
The scandal is not the first time the 45-year-old’s finances have been in the spotlight. During last year's election campaign, she was investigated by Greater Manchester Police over the 2015 sale of her former council house, though she was later cleared of any wrongdoing by both police and HMRC. More recently, she faced questions over failing to properly declare the use of a donor's New York apartment and designer clothes.
From a council estate in Stockport to the corridors of power, Ms. Rayner’s story has been one of exceptional social mobility. Leaving school pregnant and without qualifications, she worked as a carer before rising through the ranks of the Unison trade union, which became her gateway into the Labour Party.
Elected as the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne in 2015, she quickly became a formidable and outspoken presence in Westminster, known for her passionate performances at the despatch box and a 2021 conference speech in which she called Conservatives, "scum", for which she later apologised.
A grandmother at 37, she affectionately nicknamed herself 'Grangela' and brought a down-to-earth authenticity to politics that resonated with many voters. But it is a tax error, linked to the complex financial arrangements she made to care for her family, that has ultimately cut short her spectacular political career.
The resignation marks the dramatic end to the meteoric rise of one of British politics' most prominent figures, who went from being a pregnant 16-year-old with no qualifications to holding the second-highest office in the land.
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Sir Keir Starmer’s right-hand woman announced her decision after a tearful interview with Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, in which she conceded she had not paid enough tax on a flat she purchased in Hove, East Sussex, earlier this year.
"I have always taken my responsibilities as Deputy Prime Minister," Ms. Rayner said in her resignation statement. "I have long believed that people who serve the British public in government, must always observe the highest standards".
The controversy centred on Ms. Rayner’s assertion that the Hove property was not technically a second home for tax purposes. She explained that a complex 'nesting arrangement' for her children, following her divorce, and the establishment of a trust for her disabled son, Charlie, led her to believe she was exempt from the higher stamp duty rate.
Her son Charlie, 17, received NHS compensation due to the circumstances of his birth, which left him with lifelong disabilities. Ms. Rayner explained she sold her stake in the family’s main home in Ashton-under-Lyne to a trust set up to manage this compensation, using the funds as a deposit for the Hove flat.
However, after media reports claimed she had avoided as much as £40,000 in tax, the situation unravelled. The lawyers who provided her initial advice publicly stated they had not given tax guidance and were being made 'scapegoats'.
Before her resignation, a visibly emotional Ms. Rayner told the Electoral Dysfunction podcast she had discussed, "packing it all in", with her family due to the intense scrutiny.
Her departure leaves a significant vacuum at the heart of Sir Keir Starmer’s government. Appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary after Labour's general election victory last summer, Ms. Rayner was tasked with delivering one of the government’s flagship policies: building 1.5 million new homes.
She had already begun a radical overhaul of planning rules through a new bill currently making its way through Parliament, aimed at unblocking major infrastructure projects and fast-tracking development.
The scandal is not the first time the 45-year-old’s finances have been in the spotlight. During last year's election campaign, she was investigated by Greater Manchester Police over the 2015 sale of her former council house, though she was later cleared of any wrongdoing by both police and HMRC. More recently, she faced questions over failing to properly declare the use of a donor's New York apartment and designer clothes.
From a council estate in Stockport to the corridors of power, Ms. Rayner’s story has been one of exceptional social mobility. Leaving school pregnant and without qualifications, she worked as a carer before rising through the ranks of the Unison trade union, which became her gateway into the Labour Party.
Elected as the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne in 2015, she quickly became a formidable and outspoken presence in Westminster, known for her passionate performances at the despatch box and a 2021 conference speech in which she called Conservatives, "scum", for which she later apologised.
A grandmother at 37, she affectionately nicknamed herself 'Grangela' and brought a down-to-earth authenticity to politics that resonated with many voters. But it is a tax error, linked to the complex financial arrangements she made to care for her family, that has ultimately cut short her spectacular political career.
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