Angela Rayner has been cleared by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of deliberate wrongdoing or carelessness over her tax affairs, the Guardian can reveal. The former deputy prime minister has settled £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty after initially paying the lower rate, but has not paid any penalty. HMRC was also satisfied there was no tax avoidance.
The investigation into her tax affairs has hung heavily over the senior Labour MP since she was forced to resign from the cabinet last September. Now it has been resolved, the door is open for a return to frontline politics. Rayner indicated she may run in the event of a leadership contest, saying she wanted to 'play my part' and understood why Labour MPs were upset following last week's election crushing.
With Labour on the brink of civil war, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, is preparing to launch a leadership challenge on Thursday if he and his allies can secure enough MP support. His move has sparked a scramble on the left of Labour to find a candidate to oppose him, with Ed Miliband and Rayner both possible contenders, while Andy Burnham is unable to run from outside parliament.
Rayner suggested she could enter any leadership contest triggered by Streeting, although sources said she was not dead set on being the left's candidate. 'I'll play my part in doing everything we possibly can to deliver the change, because it's not a personal ambition,' she said. She did not rule out endorsing a soft left rival if they had a better chance of success.
Rayner declined to say whether Keir Starmer should fight any leadership challenge, but said he would have to 'reflect on' stepping aside. She added that the pace of change had not been enough for voters and mistakes had blown the party off course. Streeting has been organising an attempt to oust Starmer since Labour's disastrous election results, which Rayner described as 'heartbreaking'.
