United Kingdom: Government's second-in-command resigns over tax underpayment scandal

In a further blow to the already struggling Labour government, Angela Rayner, Keir Starmer 's Deputy Prime Minister, announced her resignation on Friday following the revelation of a tax underpayment scandal. "I have decided to resign from my roles as Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Minister (...), as well as from the position of Deputy Leader of the Labour Party," the MP wrote in an exchange of letters with Prime Minister Keir Starmer after several days of controversy.

The 45-year-old Labour left-wing figure said she "deeply regrets her decision not to seek additional specialist tax advice" and takes "full responsibility for this error" related to the purchase of an apartment. An independent report by the government's ethics adviser, to whom she had reported her situation, concluded on Friday that she had "breached the code" of ministerial conduct.

She reportedly saved £40,000 (€46,050) in tax on the purchase of the property by removing her name from the title deeds of another property in her constituency. As a result, the new apartment was officially her only property.

In his letter accepting her resignation, a "deeply saddened" Keir Starmer assured Angela Rayner that she would remain "a major figure" in the Labour Party, which is struggling in the polls just one year after taking office. She is leaving the government, although she was sometimes considered a possible replacement for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, due to her popularity among the party's grassroots.

Angela Rayner, easily recognizable with her long red hair and bangs, nevertheless remained relatively discreet during her 14 months in the government, which was quickly criticized. Often targeted by the conservative media, Angela Rayner left school without a qualification and, at 16, became a single mother. She discovered trade unionism and then politics after working in social work, and rose through the ranks of Labour to become the party's number two.

A few months before the 2024 general election, Conservatives brought Angela Rayner's past to light, accusing her of breaking electoral law in connection with the sale of a house in 2015. But the police, after "a thorough investigation," closed the case without prosecuting her.