Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has resigned after breaching the ministerial code over her tax arrangements, plunging the Labour government into crisis. An investigation by ethics watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus found that Rayner underpaid approximately £40,000 in stamp duty on her seaside flat in Hove, East Sussex. While Magnus praised her integrity and commitment to public service, he concluded she had violated the code.
In her resignation letter, Rayner expressed deep regret for not seeking specialist tax advice on the property purchase. She cited the significant toll media pressure was taking on her family, describing her journey from a teenage mum on a council estate to high office as 'the honour of my life'. Prime Minister Keir Starmer accepted her resignation with 'real sadness', stating she would remain a major figure in the party.
To restore order, Starmer brought forward a major cabinet reshuffle. Yvette Cooper becomes foreign secretary, Shabana Mahmood takes over as home secretary, and David Lammy moves to justice while also becoming deputy prime minister. The reshuffle sees three great offices of state held by women for the first time. Other changes include Pat McFadden moving to Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall to Science and Technology, and Steve Reed taking on Rayner's housing portfolio.
Rayner's departure leaves Labour without a powerful working-class voice as it struggles to reconnect with its base and trails Reform UK in polls. Reform leader Nigel Farage called her actions 'screaming of entitlement' and predicted the deputy leadership contest could split the party. Downing Street braces for a bruising internal contest that frustrated MPs might use to push Starmer rightward, with chief of staff Morgan McSweeney's influence seen in the reshuffle.
The crisis comes after a difficult summer dominated by migration and Nigel Farage, and ahead of a tough autumn where Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to raise taxes. Ed Miliband remains one of the few soft-left cabinet members still in post.
