Angela Rayner quits Government after ethics adviser rules she broke ministerial code over stamp duty scandal: Live updates

by James Tapsfield and Greg Heffer

Keir Starmer was plunged into chaos today as Angela Rayner dramatically quit after breaking the ministerial code by failing to pay tens of thousands of pounds in tax.

Ms Rayner has left her posts as Deputy PM, Housing Secretary and deputy Labour leader after standards watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus delivered his verdict.

Sir Laurie concluded that Ms Rayner had tried to act with ‘integrity’ but still fell short of the highest standards required in government.

In a letter to Sir Keir, she stressed the ‘strain’ that the furore had put on her family. She said she ‘deeply regretted’ not having sought expert tax advice on her stamp duty liability – even though she had received an explicit recommendation to do so.

Downing Street released a handwritten response from the premier saying he was ‘sad’ about the circumstances because Ms Rayner has ‘given her all’, but it was the ‘right decision’.

Read the full story here:

Watch our reporter explain why Angela Rayner resigned from the Government today in a major blow to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer:

Nigel Farage said Angela Rayner’s resignation over her tax affairs ‘screams to entitlement’.

Speaking on stage at the Reform conference, Mr Farage said:

It screams to a government that despite all the promises that this would be a new, different kind of politics is as bad – if not worse – than the one that went before.

He said he had brought forward his keynote speech at Reform UK’s party conference after Ms Rayner’s resignation because the Government is ‘deep in crisis’ and ‘not fit to govern;.

He said Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet was full of ‘wholly unqualified people’ and joked about Ms Rayner being ‘an accomplished property developer and speculator’.

Former shadow cabinet ministers Emily Thornberry and Rosena Allin-Khan have been touted as possible frontrunners to succeed Angela Rayner as Deputy Prime Minister.

According to political commentators, the upcoming Labour Party Conference will likely see a parade of candidates hoping to be elected as Starmer’s Deputy.

To enter the race, nominees must be a Labour MP and requite 20% of support from the parliamentary party and either 5% of local Labour parties or 5% of support from trade unions.

A vote will be given to all members and affiliated supporters.

Angela Rayner’s former family home was valued higher than neighbouring properties which went on the market when she sold her share in it to fund the purchase of a lavish seaside flat, it has been claimed.

The former deputy prime mister, who quit the government this morning, sold a 25 per cent stake in the Ashton-under-Lyne property for £162,500 to a trust established for her disabled son earlier this year, based on a valuation of £650,000 for the whole house.

This money was used to fund the apartment in Hove – which led to a major scandal this week when Ms Rayner admitted she underpaid stamp duty by £40,000.

She quit today after an ethics probe found that she breached the ministerial code of conduct, failing to adequately check she was paying the correct amount.

The £650,000 valuation for the four-bedroom house has already raised eyebrows, as it is exactly the threshold for inheritance tax becoming payable on personal assets.

But analysis of recent sale prices in the area of Greater Manchester, where Ms Rayner has been the MP since 2015, suggest it is also far higher than the value of similar properties nearby.

An online valuation tool on the Website Rightmove values the Rayner property at £565,000.

The most expensive sale of a house within a mile of the Ashton property in the past year was £561,000, which was a five-bedroom semi.

The most recent sale of a four-bed detached house within a mile of her property was in May this year, when it fetched £425,000.

Angela Rayner is the 11th person to leave the Labour Government since the general election in July 2024.

• Louise Haigh (November 28 2024). Resigned as transport secretary after failing to correct police records in 2013 regarding a stolen mobile phone.
• Tulip Siddiq (January 14 2025). Resigned as economic secretary to the Treasury after an investigation by the independent adviser on ministerial standards.
• Andrew Gwynne (February 8 2025). Sacked from job as under-secretary of state for public health and prevention for comments in a WhatsApp group.
• Lord Cryer (February 14 2025). Resigned as government whip in the House of Lords due to personal reasons.
• Annalise Dodds (February 28 2025). Resigned as international development minister and minister for women over cuts to the international aid budget.
• Lord Hunt (May 22 2025). Retired after holding post of minister of state in Department for Energy Security.
• Baroness Curran (June 6 2025). Resigned as minister of state in Department for Energy Security due to ill health.
• Vicky Foxcroft (June 19 2025). Resigned as government whip in the House of Commons over proposed cuts to disability benefits.
• Lord Moraes (July 22 2025). Resigned as government whip in the House of Lords due to personal reasons.
• Rushanara Ali (August 7 2025). Resigned as homelessness minister in Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government after allegations she increased rent on a property she owned.
• Angela Rayner (September 5 2025). Resigned as housing secretary and deputy prime minister after admitting she underpaid stamp duty on a flat.

Sir Keir Starmer is now expected to start a major reshuffle of his top team in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation.

The Prime Minister needs to appoint a Housing Secretary and a leadership contest will be underway to become the deputy leader – a position usually decided by an election.

Sky News is reporting Rachel Reeves will remain in place as Chancellor.

This all comes less than a week after Starmer attempted a ‘phase two’ relaunch of his Government which is already deeply unpopular in the polls.

Nigel Farage has brought forward his leader’s speech at the Reform UK conference in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation as deputy prime minister.

The Reform leader will speak at 1pm, three hours earlier than previously expected.

Mr Farage has said there will be ‘splits’ within Labour when it begins the process to elect a new deputy leader.

In a video posted on X, Mr Farage said Ms Rayner’s departure was ‘inevitable’.

Amid a Cabinet of dull mumblers, Angela Rayner was the gallivanting, eye-flashing exception. Sir Keir Starmer praised her ‘working-class background’ but actually that wasn’t so rare, even in the modern Labour party.

What was unusual about Mrs Rayner, and what made her so essential to the joyless Starmerites, was her unbridled greed for life.

Whereas Sir Keir and his circle spoke in atonal cliches, Mrs Rayner bellowed the rhythms of ordinary, aspirational Britain.

Apart from the health secretary, Wes Streeting, she was the only person around Sir Keir’s cabinet table who sounded non-political. In a country heartily sick of its political class, that was a godsend.

In a letter responding to Angela Rayner’s resignation, the Prime Minister said:

I am very sad that your time as deputy prime minister, secretary of state and deputy leader of the Labour Party has ended in this way.

As you know we acted in accordance with the strengthened system relating to ministerial conduct that we put in place on coming into government.

Although I believe you have reached the right decision, it is a decision which I know is very painful for you.

You have given your all to making the Labour Government a success and you have been a central part of our plan to make Britain fairer for working families.

On a personal note, I am very sad to be losing you from the Government. You have been a trusted colleague and a true friend for many years.

I have nothing but admiration for you and huge respect for your achievements in politics. I know that many people of all political persuasions admire that someone as talented as you is the living embodiment of social mobility.

Even though you won’t be part of the Government, you will remain a major figure in our party.

Angela Rayner told Keir Starmer she decided to resign from the Government following ‘significant’ pressure on her family.

In a tearful interview on Wednesday, Ms Rayner said she had spoken to relatives about walking away following intense scrutiny of her tax affairs.

In her resignation letter published online, the former deputy leader said:

I must also consider the significant toll that the ongoing pressure of the media is taking on my family. While I rightly expect proper scrutiny on me and my life, my family did not choose to have their private lives interrogated and exposed so publicly. I have been clear throughout this process that my priority has, and always will be, protecting my children and the strain I am putting them under through staying in post has become unbearable.

Given the findings, and the impact on my family, I have therefore decided to resign as Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, as well as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

Keir Starmer has described Angela Rayner as a ‘trusted colleague and true friend’ in a handwritten note shared by Downing Street following her resignation.

Starmer began the note by thanking Rayner for informing him of her decision to resign from the government, adding he is ‘very sad that your time as deputy prime minister, secretary of state and deputy leader of the Labour Party has ended in this way’.

In the letter he also thanks her for her work as Housing Secretary and for her work in the Employment Rights Bill.

Sir Keir Starmer has told Angela Rayner ‘you will remain a major figure in our party’ and will ‘continue to fight for the causes you care so passionately about’ as she resigned.

We will bring you more on the Prime Minister’s reaction when we get it.

Angela Rayner has shared her resignation letter on her X page after she was found to have breached the ministerial code.

Ms Rayner said she regretted her actions and took full responsibility after she failed to seek specialist advice over the level of stamp duty she should pay.

She added serving in the Government after being a teenage mum in a Stockport council estate was the ‘greatest honour’ in her life.

In his letter to the Prime Minister, Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on ministerial interests, said:

It is highly unfortunate […] that Ms Rayner failed to pay the correct rate of SDLT on this purchase, particularly given her status and responsibilities as the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and as Deputy Prime Minister.

She believed that she relied on the legal advice she had received, but unfortunately did not heed the caution contained within it, which acknowledged that it did not constitute expert tax advice and which suggested that expert advice be sought.

I believe Ms Rayner has acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service.

I consider, however, that her unfortunate failure to settle her SDLT liability at the correct level, coupled with the fact that this was established only following intensive public scrutiny, leads me to advise you that, in relation to this matter, she cannot be considered to have met the “highest possible standards of proper conduct” as envisaged by the Code.

Accordingly, it is with deep regret that I must advise you that in these circumstances, I consider the Code to have been breached.

Angela Rayner has told the Prime Minister in a letter that ‘I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice’ and takes ‘full responsibility for this error’ as she resigned as Deputy Prime Minister, Housing Secretary and deputy leader of the Labour Party.

Ethics watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus said Angela Rayner had ‘acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service’ but concluded she breached the ministerial code over her tax affairs.

Angela Rayner’s departure is another massive blow for the PM, already struggling to stabilise his government after a torrid summer of immigration protests.

She has also resigned as deputy Labour leader – a separate elected post – triggering what could be a deeply divisive contest.

Bizarrely, even as Ms Rayner’s demise emerged this morning the PM’s official spokesman was still insisted Sir Keir had ‘full confidence’ in her.

Confirming that Sir Keir had received the report from Sir Laurie, the spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister will read it and act upon it. He has a reputation for being comprehensive and quick.’

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said ‘Britain deserves better’ as she reacts to Angela Rayner’s resignation from the Government.

The Conservative leader posted the following tweet on her X account.

Angela Rayner dramatically exited the Cabinet today after a sleaze report into her property dealings.

Ms Rayner is understood to be leaving her post as Deputy PM after Sir Laurie Magnus delivered his verdict to Keir Starmer.

The crucial moment came after furious lawyers accused Ms Rayner of trying to make them ‘scapegoats’ for her underpaying tens of thousands of pounds in stamp duty.

Ms Rayner’s hold on her job had been looking increasingly tenuous after Sir Keir refused to rule out sacking her yesterday, insisting he would ‘act’ on the findings from Sir Laurie.

The departure is another massive blow for the PM, already struggling to stabilise his government after a torrid summer of immigration protests. While he can remove Ms Rayner from Cabinet, she has a separate elected mandate as Labour’s deputy leader.

Angela Rayner will leave the Government, according to the PA news agency and Sky News.

The Deputy PM’s departure is not yet official.

Sir Keir Starmer has now received the report into Angela Rayner’s tax affairs by his ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus.

The PM is set to determine Ms Rayner’s future after she referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards earlier this week.

Angela Rayner is expected to leave the Government today, according to reports.

Sky News and The Times are reporting a decision has been made on the Deputy PM’s future and that she will no longer serve in Keir Starmer’s administration.

We will bring you official news when we can.

Conservative Kemi Badenoch immediately demanded the Prime Minister sack Ms Rayner and challenged him to show a ‘backbone’, although her performance at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, just minutes after the admission was made public, was criticised by some political commentators as ineffective.

If you are the deputy PM helping to set tax policy, if you are the housing minister deciding where people are going to live, how much that is going to cost, you need to get your own affairs in order.

Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said Rayner had the summer celebrating her growing ‘property empire’

Leader Sir Ed Davey offered a more sympathetic response to Ms Rayner, suggesting that while her position may be untenable as a result of the ethics investigation, she may have been guided by her disabled child’s interests.

I understand it is normally the role of opposition leaders to jump up and down and call for resignations – as we’ve seen plenty of from the Conservatives already. Obviously if the ethics adviser says Angela Rayner has broken the rules, her position may well become untenable.

But as a parent of a disabled child, I know the thing my wife and I worry most about is our son’s care after we have gone, so I can completely understand and trust that the Deputy PM was thinking about the same thing here. Perhaps now is a good time to talk about how we look after disabled people and how we can build a more caring country.

Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice said Ms Rayner’s position was ‘completely indefensible’.

If anyone from any other party had been in that situation and tried to dodge paying the correct amount of tax, no-one would have screamed and hollered louder than the Deputy Prime Minister. Morally, her situation was always completely indefensible.

Leader Nigel Farage added he could not see how Ms Rayner survived the scandal while in Washington DC earlier this week

Angela Rayner’s stamp duty scandal has sparked a disparaging AI video where she is transformed into a brash rapper who declares: ‘Starmer blushing, I’m still fine, you pay full tax, I skip the line’.

With her political career on the precipice, the Deputy Prime Minister is lampooned in a viral skit entitled: ‘How Many Homes Can Rayner Buy?’

Ms Rayner, 45, who is shown wearing a fur coat over a tracksuit, is also shown flashing wad of cash – a nod to the £40,000 she belatedly admitted to underpaying in stamp duty on a £800,000 seaside flat she bought in Hove in May.

In the computer-generated video, now viewed by hundreds of thousands of people online in the past 24 hours, Rayner raps: ‘Bought me one house, bought me two; flip another flat, taxman no clue; £80K saved with a Brighton tan; Dodgin’ more duty than the average man’.

The AI-inspired Angela adds while at the despatch box: ‘How many homes, I’ll name ’em all; Big Ange dancin’ in the Commons hall; Taxman cryin’, Rayner smilin’; One rule for me, none for thee!’.

Sir Keir Starmer indicated he is ready to sack Ms Rayner if she has broken the ministerial code.

The Prime Minister vowed to ‘act on whatever the report is’ into his deputy’s tax affairs, but refused to guarantee her dismissal five times.

On Wednesday, Ms Rayner gave a tearful interview to Sky News in which she laid the blame for her troubles on her lawyers.

But last night, that version of events was dealt a serious blow by Verrico & Associates, based in Herne Bay, Kent, which issued a bombshell statement saying it had calculated the stamp duty ‘strictly based on the facts and information provided to us’ – and that it did not offer tax advice.

Mrs Verrico (pictured above), who founded the practice in 1994 assisted by her three daughters, told the Telegraph:

We acted for Ms Rayner when she purchased the flat in Hove. We did not and never have given tax or trust advice. It’s something we always refer our clients to an accountant or tax expert for.

The stamp duty for the Hove flat was calculated using HMRC’s own online calculator based on the figures and the information provided by Ms Rayner. That’s what we used and it told us we had to pay £30,000 based on the information provided to us.

We believe that we did everything correctly and in good faith. Everything was exactly as it should be.

We probably are being made scapegoats for all this and I have got the arrows stuck in my back to show it. We are not an inexperienced firm, but we’re not qualified to give advice on trust and tax matters and we advise clients to seek expert advice on these.

It is understood Ms Rayner is arguing she received at least three pieces of legal advice, including from a trust overseeing her disabled son’s affairs as well as from a conveyancer, supporting her initial position.

But she has yet to reveal if any other lawyer gave her further advice to support her claim she had gone through proper channels and been misadvised.

MFG Solicitors of Kidderminster, which was involved in conveyancing at her family home in Ashton-under-Lyne, said it ‘did not act for Ms Rayner in the purchase of her property in Hove, nor did we provide any tax-related advice in relation to it’. And law firm Shoosmiths, which previously acted for her, also ruled itself out.

As the mystery grew over her flat purchase last week, Ms Rayner sought advice from a tax barrister – who told her this week that she had been wrong not to pay the higher amount of stamp duty, prompting her mea culpa on Wednesday.

Dan Neidle, a tax expert who has advised the Labour Party, tweeted: ‘It’s looking increasingly like Ms Rayner didn’t actually obtain tax advice before this week.’

So far Ms Rayner, who is also the Housing Secretary, has refused to say which firms she consulted before the Hove transaction.

It’s been a busy week for Angela Rayner who today could learn her political fate as an ethics report into her tax affairs is delivered.

Let’s take a look back at how her confession unfolded:

Angela Rayner has been dubbed ‘Three Pads’ Rayner following her purchase of a flat in Hove.

She is said to have saved £40,000 in stamp duty on the apartment because she removed her name from the deeds of a family property in her constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester.

The deed changes supposedly allowed Ms Rayner to pay £30,000 in stamp duty instead of £70,000, which would have been applied if the Hove property was her second home.

Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday, she said:

I’ve been in shock, really, because I thought I’d done everything properly, and I relied on the advice that I received and I’m devastated because I’ve always upheld the rules and always have felt proud to do that.

That it is devastating for me and the fact that the reason why those confidential clauses were in place was to protect my son, who, through no fault of his own, he’s vulnerable, he’s got this life-changing, lifelong conditions and I don’t want him or anything to do with his day-to-day life, to be subjected to that level of scrutiny.

Following her emotional TV interview in which she admitted not paying enough stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside property in Hove, Angela Rayner released a statement setting out events leading up to this week.

Dissecting her words into important dates, let’s take a look at how we got where we are today:

Rayner explains a trust was set up for her son as a premature baby following a ‘deeply personal and distressing incident’ which has left him with life-long disabilities.

Rayner said interest in her family home in Ashton-under-Lyne was transferred to the trust. Following her divorce in the same year, Ms Rayner said she and her ex-husband agreed to a ‘nesting arrangement’ where their children remained in the family home while the parents lived there at alternate times. She says this home remains her family home.

Rayner said she sold her remaining interest in the Ashton property to her son’s trust, thereby allowing him the ‘security of knowing the home is his’. She maintains the Ashton property remains her family home.

Rayner said she bought the Hove property with the proceeds from her stake in the Ashton property. She said she was told by her lawyers she was liable for the ‘standard rate’ of stamp duty but after seeking further advice discovered she was subject to ‘additional liabilities’ because of what she described as ‘complex deeming provisions’ related to her son’s trust.

Angela Rayner is facing a moment of truth as soon as today with Keir Starmer’s sleaze adviser preparing to give his verdict on her property dealings.

Sir Laurie Magnus could deliver his report on the deputy PM after furious lawyers accused her of trying to make them ‘scapegoats’ for her underpaying tens of thousands of pounds in stamp duty.

Ms Rayner’s hold on her job is looking increasingly tenuous after Sir Keir refused to rule out sacking her yesterday, insisting he would ‘act’ on the findings from Sir Laurie.

The situation is particularly difficult for the PM as while he can remove Ms Rayner from Cabinet, she has a separate elected mandate as Labour’s deputy leader.

Senior figures have been rallying around Ms Rayner since her extraordinary admission that she had failed to pay enough stamp duty, suggesting she is being persecuted for her working class background.

Good morning and welcome to the Daily Mail’s live coverage as Angela Rayner awaits the verdict of Keir Starmer’s ethics adviser into her tax affairs.

The Deputy Prime Minister admitted this week she had not paid enough stamp duty on a £800,000 property she purchased in Hove earlier this year.

The Prime Minister has been urged to sack Ms Rayner, who has previously called for the resignations of Conservative MPs for tax avoidance, while some allies have rallied around her.

Ms Rayner referred herself to Sir Laurie Magnus, who is investigating whether she broke the ministerial code, following her admission.

His verdict could be delivered today and may present Keir Starmer with a huge decision as he ultimately makes the final determination on Ms Rayner’s future.

Stick with us for live updates throughout the day plus all the reaction if the report is later released.