Angela Rayner’s resignation prompts broader cupboard reshuffle, with Home of Commons chief and Scotland secretary sacked.
Revealed On 5 Sep 2025
The UK’s Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has stepped down after a probe discovered she violated the ministerial code for underpaying tax on her flat, prompting a broader cupboard reshuffle and throwing the Labour Celebration deeper into turmoil.
In a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday, Rayner conceded she “didn’t meet the very best requirements” and would resign from her roles as housing minister and deputy chief of Labour.
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“I deeply remorse my resolution to not search further specialist tax recommendation,” stated Rayner, having final week admitted to underpaying a surcharge on the flat. She stated she took “full accountability for this error”.
Starmer replied that he was “very unhappy” to lose her from authorities, however added: “You’ll stay a significant determine in our social gathering.”
The resignation of Rayner – who was in style with working-class voters and a skilful mediator between Labour’s left and centrist wings – is a significant blow to Starmer, whose authorities has endured a collection of crises since taking energy in July 2024 and now trails hard-right firebrand Nigel Farage’s Reform UK social gathering in nationwide polls.
“In shedding her, Keir Starmer loses maybe the closest hyperlink the Labour Celebration has to its working-class roots,” reported Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull from Birmingham within the UK.
Rayner’s departure got here shortly forward of UK media studies that a number of different cupboard members had been fired – Home of Commons chief Lucy Powell and Scotland secretary Ian Murray.
In a publish on X, Powell stated Starmer had advised her he meant to switch her with a brand new Commons chief.
“This has not been a straightforward time for the federal government. Folks need to see change and enhancements to their troublesome lives,” Powell stated.
A Assertion from me: pic.twitter.com/5NmhJeKDRV
— Lucy Powell MP (@LucyMPowell) September 5, 2025
‘Complexity’ in Rayner tax scandal
Rayner disclosed on Wednesday that she had underpaid so-called stamp obligation on a seaside flat in southern England following days of studies suggesting that she had saved £40,000 ($53,000) by eradicating her identify from the deeds of one other property.
After trying into the case, ethics chief Laurie Magnus stated the foundations “entailed a substantial diploma of complexity” and recognised that Rayner had twice been suggested that the decrease price of stamp obligation was relevant.
That recommendation, nonetheless, was certified by the admission that it didn’t represent skilled tax recommendation.
Rayner’s failure to hunt additional steerage meant she “can’t be thought-about to have met the very best doable requirements of correct conduct”, stated Magnus.
Rayner had typically been tipped to turn out to be Labour chief at some point and has been a prime goal for political assaults by the Conservatives and right-wing media.
