Shoppers in Angela Rayner's Ashton-under-Lyne constituency have overwhelmingly called for her resignation after she admitted to mistakenly underpaying stamp duty on a second home. The deputy prime minister and housing minister acknowledged on Wednesday that she had paid the standard rate of about £30,000 on an £800,000 flat in Hove, rather than the higher rate for second homes, which would have been up to £70,000.
Rayner said she had acted on legal advice after putting her stake in her Greater Manchester home into a trust for her children, believing she no longer owned it. However, further legal advice indicated she still had an interest in the property and should have paid the higher tax. Constituents expressed little sympathy, with many saying she should resign from her ministerial roles and her parliamentary seat.
Andrew Davies, 57, a site leader, said: 'I pay a lot more taxes than a lot of people. I think she should resign as housing minister and maybe even consider deputy as well.' Liz Carroll, 40, who voted Labour at the last election, called Rayner 'a disgrace' and said she would vote Reform next time. Maureen Mills, 76, a retired office worker, said the £40,000 figure was 'staggering' and criticised Prime Minister Keir Starmer for backing Rayner.
Meanwhile, outside Rayner's Hove flat, graffiti appeared overnight reading 'tax evader' and 'bitch'. A spokesperson for Rayner described the vandalism as 'unjustifiable and beyond the pale'. In Ashton-under-Lyne, which has high deprivation with over 40% of children in low-income families, residents voiced anger that Rayner could afford a second home while many struggle.
