Angela Rayner tax claims: Why are police investigating sale of Labour deputy leader’s council house?

Angela Rayner has accused the Conservative party of attempting to ‘smear’ her and insisted that controversy over her tax affairs is ‘manufactured’

Police have launched an investigation into Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner as speculation over whether she broke electoral law continues.

The investigation opened upon “reassessment of information” given to the police by deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, James Daly, about information she gave about her living situation a decade ago.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police has said that they are looking into whether any offences have been committed. Ms Rayner responded to the announcement by saying that she will stand down if a crime is found.

Ms Rayner has been facing scrutiny about whether she paid the right amount of tax on the 2015 sale of her council house because of confusion over whether it was her principal residence.

Ms Rayner has denied any wrongdoing and insisted that controversy over her tax affairs is “manufactured”.

Here’s what we know so far about the investigation:

(Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)

What is the investigation about?

Greater Manchester Police is looking into claims she may have broken electoral law in the early 2010s.

Ms Rayner was registered on the electoral roll at her Stockport council house from 2007 until 2015 and claims this was her “principle property”.

She bought the property under the right-to-buy rules which saw her claim a 25 per cent discount.

However, her husband was listed at another address around a mile away. Ms Rayner is also said to have re-registered the births of her two youngest children to the address where her husband resided.

The confusion over which address she was actually resident at has prompted claims that Ms Rayner may owe capital gains tax on the 2015 sale of her Stockport home. It has also prompted questions over electoral law.

Government guidance says that a tenant can apply to buy their council home through the right-to-buy scheme if it is their “only or main home”.

Police originally said that Ms Rayner would not face an investigation over the claims.

However, they agreed to “review the circumstances” last month after the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, James Daly, made the force aware of neighbours who have contradicted Ms Rayner’s statement that the property, which was separate from her husband’s, was her main residence.

The original investigation began after former Conservative party deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft suggested that Ms Rayner had failed to properly declare her main residency (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

What is the wider speculation around Ms Rayner’s council house about?

The controversy originally centred on the 2015 sale of her Stockport home.

This began after an investigation by the former Conservative party deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft in his book Red Queen? The Unauthorised Biography of Angela Rayner.

The biography claimed that she had owed more than £1000 in capital gains tax linked to the sale of her former council home in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

The Labour MP turned a £48,500 profit on the property, which she bought in 2007 with a 25 per cent discount. She was also registered to vote at this address. Under electoral rules voters have to register at their permanent address.

What has Ms Rayner said?

Ms Rayner has accused the Conservative party of attempting to “smear” her and insisted that controversy over her tax affairs is “manufactured”.

She has also accused Lord Ashcroft of an “unhealthy interest” in her family life and of wanting to “kick down at people like me who graft hard in tough circumstances to get on in life”.

A Labour spokesperson said: “Angela welcomes the chance to set out the facts with the police. We remain completely confident that Angela has complied with the rules at all times and it’s now appropriate to let the police do its work.”