Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, resigned on Friday after an official investigation found she breached the ministerial code by underpaying property tax, dealing a major setback to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government.
Rayner, a key figure among Labour’s left-wing base, admitted earlier this week that she had underpaid stamp duty on a flat purchase and referred herself to the government’s independent ethics adviser.
In his findings, ethics chief Laurie Magnus said Rayner had failed to “heed the caution” of legal advice and therefore breached the code.
“Given the findings, and the impact on my family, I have therefore decided to resign,” Rayner wrote in her resignation letter, adding that she would step down as Deputy Prime Minister, Housing Minister, and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.
“I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice,” she said, stressing that she took “full responsibility for this error.”
Prime Minister Starmer, in his response, said he was “very sad” to see her go, but assured her: “You will remain a major figure in our party.”
The controversy stemmed from reports that Rayner saved around £40,000 ($53,000) by removing her name from the deeds of a previous property. Following her divorce in 2023, she said she sold her share of the family home to a trust fund for her son, who is registered blind and has lifelong special needs, and used the proceeds to buy a new flat.
Rayner claimed the flat as her main home to avoid a second-home surcharge but later admitted this was incorrect, as her son is under 18.
Despite the ruling, Magnus noted that Rayner had “acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service,” but confirmed that the ministerial code had been breached.
Rayner, 45, who grew up in a deprived social housing estate in Stockport and left school at 16 with no qualifications, had been widely tipped as a future Labour leader. Her straight-talking style and working-class roots made her popular with grassroots voters, while also drawing sustained attacks from Conservatives and the right-wing press.
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