ANGELA Rayner may be forced to sell her £800,000 seaside home after her bombshell resignation left her facing a major salary cut, it has been reported.
The former Deputy PM faces a salary cut of around £67,000 after she resigned from government, following a sleaze investigation into how she underpaid stamp duty by £40,000 when buying her new home.
PAAngela Rayner resigned from her posts yesterday after being found to have breached the Ministerial Code when buying her £800,000 home[/caption]
PAAngela Rayner’s Hove home had been vandalised with graffiti calling her a ‘tax evader’[/caption]
PAIt has been reported the former top dog may now struggle to pay her mortgage and could be forced to sell her new home[/caption]
The report found Ms Rayner breached the ministerial ethics code after she failed to seek specialist tax advice for her property purchase.
Now, the former top dog could struggle to pay her mortgage, as her salary is expected to fall after her resignation.
Previously, Ms Rayner was earning £161,409 while serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Housing and Communities Secretary.
But leaving the posts will see her salary drop to £93,904 (the base salary for all MPs), while she will also have to foot the bill of the £40,000 in stamp duty she owes to HMRC.
Ms Rayner’s political rivals are also calling for her to forfeit her £16,876 severance payment, which could put her at further risk of difficulties in paying her mortgage.
Up until yesterday, the politician had access to her grace-and-favour Whitehall flat in Admiralty House, on top of her £650,000 constituency home in Ashton-under-Lyne and £800,000 Hove pad.
The Telegraph has reported that her loss of income, steep costs to HMRC and potential forfeiting of severance pay could force her to sell the home that led to her resignation in the first place.
Ms Rayner resigned from her posts yesterday, as well as her role as Deputy Labour Leader, after a report by the Government’s sleaze watchdog found she had broken the Ministerial Code.
She had underpaid HMRC by £40,000 in stamp duty when buying her Hove home and appeared to try to blame her lawyers for giving her bad advice – claims they swiftly denied.
In her resignation, she said: “I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice given both my position as
Housing Secretary and my complex family arrangements.
“I take full responsibility for this error.
“I would like to take this opportunity to repeat that it was never my intention to do anything other than pay the right amount.”
She added: “For a teenage mum from a council estate in Stockport to serve as the highest level of government has been the honour of my life.
“The challenges of government are nothing compared to the
challenge of putting food on the table and getting a roof over our head when I brought up kids working as a home help.”
Why cutting Angela Rayner loose could cause even more trouble for Keir Starmer
By Jack Elsom
CUTTING Angela Rayner loose will not end the trouble she has caused Sir Keir Starmer – in fact it could get a whole lot worse.
Millions of appalled voters will rightly expect her to scurry sheepishly off into the deep freeze along with any future ambitions.
But to her legions of militant supporters, she is far from a busted flush – she is a martyr, and soon quite possibly their Red Queen over the water.
It is no secret Rayner is far to the left of Starmer, and that theirs has always been a tricky forced political marriage.
Remember when Sir Keir tried to clip her wings in 2021 only to end up giving her a promotion after she kicked off big time?
Now outside the Cabinet tent – and with no real sense of loyalty to the PM – she could turn from his right-hand woman into a right old headache.
Many in the Labour tribe are already furious with Starmer for turning his back on the left-wing causes he once championed.
From welfare, to taxes, to migration, there is no shortage of issues on which soft-left MPs are ready to scrap with No10.
As the PM tries to stem the bleeding to Reform with more hardline policies, those rows will only intensify.
Especially given Jeremy Corbyn’s new rabble and the Greens threaten to sap voters from Labour’s leftward flank.
In this looming battle for the soul of the party, it is easy to see Rayner emerging as the socialists’ standard bearer.
With the might of the unions and members also on her side, Rayner could quickly accumulate a large powerbase.
Maybe one even big enough to mobilise against her old boss.
Think of the grief Boris Johnson or Nigel Lawson caused Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher from the backbenches, leading to their downfalls.
Starmer had no choice but to push Rayner out.
Her fate was set as soon as Sir Laurie Magnus threw the book at her for breaking the ministerial code.
His gushing, personal, hand-written goodbye note is as clear a sign as any that he wanted to give her the heave-ho in as gentle a way as possible.
But it might not stay friendly for long.
In a handwritten note, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Ms Rayner had “reached the right decision” in stepping down.
Although he said that on a “personal” level he was sad to see his deputy quitting the government – hailing her a “trusted colleague and friend”.
While Ms Rayner’s actions were being scrutinised by the sleaze report, her Hove home was vandalised with graffiti calling her a “tax evader”.
A white wall outside the home also has the word “b****” alongside a larger “tax evader!” spray.
Across the road, construction chipboard has been adorned with graffiti saying: “Tax evader Rayner” and “Rayner tax avoidance”.
Her departure yesterday led to a reshuffle, with Rayner being rumoured to “still be a major figure for Labour“.
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