Angela Rayner: How a £40,000 tax error brought down Britain’s No. 2

Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, resigned on Friday after an investigation found she breached the ministerial code by underpaying property tax.

The decision marks a major setback for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government.

Rayner, who also served as Housing Minister and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, admitted earlier this week that she had underpaid stamp duty on a flat purchase and referred herself to the government’s independent ethics adviser.

Ethics chief Laurie Magnus, in a letter to Starmer, said Rayner failed to “heed the caution” of legal advice she had received, which amounted to a breach of the ministerial code.

“Given the findings, and the impact on my family, I have therefore decided to resign,” Rayner stated in her resignation letter. She expressed regret over not seeking further specialist tax advice and took full responsibility for the error.

Prime Minister Starmer, in his response, said he was “very sad” to lose her from government, but noted that she would “remain a major figure in our party.”

Rayner revealed that after her 2023 divorce, she sold her share of the family home to a trust fund for her child’s future and used the proceeds to buy the flat. She had paid less stamp duty by claiming the property was her main residence, but later admitted this was incorrect since her under-18 son lived in the family home.

Despite acknowledging that Rayner had “acted with integrity and with a dedicated commitment to public service,” Magnus concluded that the ministerial code had been breached.

Rayner, 45, is a prominent figure in the Labour Party, often tipped as a future leader. Known for her straight-talking style, she rose from humble beginnings in Stockport, where she grew up in deprived housing, to one of the top offices of state.