The Prime Minister has backed Angela Rayner after she admitted an underpayment of stamp duty on a seaside flat which prompted Opposition calls for her to resign.
Sir Keir Starmer said he was “very proud to sit alongside” his deputy at Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions and added that her move to refer herself to the independent ethics adviser was “the right thing to do”.
Ms Rayner, who is also the Housing Secretary, said she had received inaccurate legal advice that led her to underpay tax when buying a flat in Hove in May.
She has been under pressure after media reports claimed she saved £40,000 in stamp duty on the property because she removed her name from the deeds of a family home in her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency, classifying the Hove flat as her only property despite still spending time at the family house.
In a statement on Wednesday, she said she had taken legal advice when she bought the south coast flat, which suggested she was “liable to pay standard stamp duty”, but had then sought “further advice from a leading tax counsel” after headlines about the arrangement.
She learned that the initial advice had been inaccurate and she was liable to pay additional stamp duty.
That is because she had put her stake in her constituency home in Ashton into a trust set up in 2020 for her disabled son.
Tax experts said the Hove property could not be treated as her only residence because of the nature of the trust.
Ms Rayner spoke out hours after a court order was lifted which had prevented her from disclosing information about her property arrangements.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called for the Deputy Prime Minister to be sacked amid accusations of hypocrisy as ministers may be considering property tax rises in the autumn Budget.
In the Commons, Sir Keir said: “She has explained her personal circumstances in detail. She’s gone over and above in setting out the details including, Mr Speaker, yesterday afternoon, asking a court to lift a confidentiality order in relation to her own son.
“I know from speaking at length to the Deputy Prime Minister just how difficult that decision was for her. But she did it to ensure that all information is in the public domain.
“She has now referred herself to the independent adviser. That is the right thing to do.
“But I can be clear, I am very proud to sit alongside a Deputy Prime Minister who is building 1.5 million homes, who is bringing the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights for generations, and who has come from a working-class background to become Deputy Prime Minister.”
Ms Badenoch said: “I remember when the Prime Minister said tax evasion is a criminal offence, and should be treated as all other fraud. If he had a backbone, he would sack her.”
If Keir Starmer had a backbone, he’d sack Angela Rayner immediately.
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) September 3, 2025
She has to go. pic.twitter.com/pmHCV0rcrb
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice told Sky News: “She was so vocal in attacking opposing politicians when she was in opposition that she can’t stand up and say ‘I’m the biggest hypocrite in the land’. She has to offer her resignation to the Prime Minister.”
Downing Street insisted Sir Keir had full confidence in Ms Rayner, but declined to say whether he would sack her if she was found to have breached ministerial standards.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “As you’d expect, we’re not going to get ahead of the process.
“As she’s set out in her statement today, she’s referred herself to the independent adviser. She will provide him with her fullest co-operation and access to all the information he requires.
“It is now up to the independent adviser to conduct that process.”
No 10 refused to say when the Prime Minister was informed about his deputy’s tax underpayment or whether he had seen the legal advice she had received.
Sir Keir believes Ms Rayner should “pay what is due”, his spokesman said.
Labour backbenchers appeared uncertain whether Ms Rayner would be able to survive in her current position, with several telling the PA news agency it would depend on the outcome of Sir Laurie Magnus’s investigation.
But some added that they hoped she would be able to continue, with one saying she was “doing a good job and everyone recognises she brings a perspective we need to the top team”.
Another told PA: “She’s not the one everyone tells me they hate on the doorstep.”
Science Secretary Peter Kyle told LBC that Ms Rayner was “being treated very differently” because she was from a working class background.
He added: “Just because it is Angela, with her accent and her background, people are treating her in a way they wouldn’t, that if a Tory MP who was born in wealth had a second home, which many of them do already.”
In her statement, the Housing Secretary said: “I have now been advised that although I did not own any other property at the time of the purchase, the application of complex deeming provisions which relate to my son’s trust gives rise to additional stamp duty liabilities.
“I acknowledge that due to my reliance on advice from lawyers which did not properly take account of these provisions, I did not pay the appropriate stamp duty at the time of the purchase. I am working with expert lawyers and with HMRC to resolve the matter and pay what is due.
“The arrangements I have set out reflect the reality that family life is rarely straightforward, particularly when dealing with disability, divorce and the complexities of ensuring your children’s long-term security. Every decision I have made has been guided by what I believe to be in my children’s best interests.
“I deeply regret the error that has been made. I am committed to resolving this matter fully and providing the transparency that public service demands.
“It is for that reason I have today referred myself to the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, and will provide him with my fullest co-operation and access to all the information he requires.”
Asked whether she had considered resigning, Ms Rayner told Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast she had “spoken to my family about it” and that she had “been in shock, really, because I thought I’d done everything properly, and I relied on the advice that I received, and I’m devastated because I’ve always upheld the rules and always have felt proud to do that”.
