British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced her resignation from the left-wing Labour government on Friday after a parliamentary watchdog concluded that she had violated ministerial code in failing to pay tens of thousands in property taxes.
Rayner, who also served as the Housing Minister, said in her resignation from both posts that she “deeply regretted” having failed to seek expert tax advice concerning the purchase of her £800,000 second home earlier this year.
The far-left politician admitted to underpaying the “stamp duty” property tax on the purchase of her second home in Hove by £40,000. Rayner said that she takes “full responsibility for this error” and maintained that it was “never my intention” to not pay the tax in full, The Times of London reports.
Despite her high flyer lifestyle — including thousands in gifted luxury clothes from Labour mega donor Lord Ali — the socialist politician attempted to reclaim her working class roots in her resignation letter.
“Every day I had in office, I worked to serve working-class communities like the one that I grew up in, which are too often overlooked by those in power. I am proud that in every decision I made, I did it for them,” she said.
She also claimed that her decision to step down was motivated out of concern for her family, saying that the scandal had placed an “unbearable” on her children.
Rayner had long been tipped as a potential replacement for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, whose polls have fallen to record lows. However, now, the PM will likely announce a reshuffle of his cabinet shortly.
In a written letter, Starmer said to Rayner that he was “very sad to be losing you from the government” and that he had “nothing but admiration for you and huge respect for your achievement in politics”.
The resignation came after a report from ethics watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus, who concluded that in addition to failing to pay the correct tax, Rayner had also failed to seek expert tax advice, despite having been told to do so.
Magnus noted that it was “highly unfortunate” that she had “failed to pay the correct rate of stamp duty, particularly given her status and responsibilities as the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and as Deputy Prime Minister.”
Commenting on the resignation, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “You can’t be Housing Secretary and avoid £40,000 worth of stamp duty, it’s just as simple as that.”
Mr Farage predicted that the power vacuum left by Rayner will lead to “splits” within the Labour Party and for the far-left to seek advantage.
