The UK's deputy prime minister and housing secretary, Angela Rayner, resigned Friday after an independent inquiry found that she did not meet the ethical standards required for government ministers over a recent home purchase. Rayner, who admitted on Wednesday that she did not pay enough tax on her purchase earlier this summer of an apartment in Hove, on England's south coast, said the report found that she acted in good faith, but that, crucially, she should have sought more specific tax advice, the AP reports. "I take full responsibility for this error," she said in her resignation letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Rayner referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Laurie Magnus, on Wednesday, who delivered his report to Starmer on Friday. Though Magnus concluded that Rayner had "acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service," he said that "with deep regret" she had breached the ministers' code of conduct. He said her failure to follow a recommendation to seek specific tax advice was "highly unfortunate"—"particularly given her status and responsibilities," the BBC reports. Rayner said the tax underpayment was an innocent mistake resulting from a complicated arrangement involving a trust for her disabled son that secured his part-ownership in a home she had owned with her ex-husband, reports the New York Times.
- In the UK, levies are charged on property purchases, with higher charges due on more expensive homes and secondary residences. Reports have suggested that Rayner saved 40,000 pounds, around $54,000, by not paying the appropriate levy, known as a stamp duty. The Telegraph notes that as housing secretary, Rayner was in charge of government policy on second homes.
- Rayner, who has forged a reputation as one of the Labour Party's most forthright speakers, has often railed against those who deliberately underpay tax, particularly those in the preceding Conservative administration, which Labour replaced in July 2024.
- Starmer said Rayner had made the right decision but said he was "very sad" to see her leave his government. "I have nothing but admiration for you and huge respect for your achievements in politics," Starmer wrote.
- The resignation followed intense media scrutiny of Rayner's property purchases. The Guardian notes that Rayner isn't the first high-profile figure to leave Starmer's government over such scrutiny—homelessness minister Rushanara Ali stepped down last month after it emerged that she evicted tenants from one of her properties, then rented it out for $940 a month more.
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