Angela Rayner is facing mounting scrutiny over her property portfolio, with accusations that she avoided £40,000 in stamp duty and questions around a house valuation in her constituency.
These suggestions are made more embarrassing by her dual roles as deputy prime minister and housing secretary.
The Times has reported on the “remarkable coincidence” that, at £650,000, the deputy prime minister bought a flat that was the exact price as the threshold for inheritance tax (IHT).
The property, in Rayner’s constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne, was jointly owned with her former husband and was placed in a trust administered by the law firm Shoosmiths Trust Corporation.
Under the current IHT regime, a 40 per cent rate applies to assets priced over £325,000 for an individual or £650,000 for a couple.
Number 10 has said: “There is a court order which restricts her from providing further information, which she’s urgently working on rectifying in interests of public transparency.”
Fair game or ‘gross hypocrisy’?
Rayner is also under fire for buying a new flat in Hove, East Sussex – 260 miles away from her constituency.
A spokesman for the deputy prime minister has confirmed that she will still be standing in her Greater Manchester constituency when it comes to the next election.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson gave a muted defence of Rayner on the Sunday morning media round, telling Times Radio’s Adam Boulton that “Angela Rayner has been clear that she followed all the rules and requirements of her, that she has followed the rules completely”.
Pressed on the alleged hypocrisy of the purchase, Phillipson said: “Angela Rayner, as an adult with a salary, is able to make choices about how she spends her own money.”
The housing secretary has become a lightning rod for criticism, with her Tory opposite number James Cleverly accusing her of “gross hypocrisy” if she fails to clarify her tax situation.
Conservatives have already called for an ethics inquiry to be launched into Rayner’s tax affairs.