Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, has admitted to underpaying property tax on a flat purchase, after days of mounting political pressure.
The 45-year-old housing minister said she had referred herself to the government’s ethics adviser and reported the matter to tax authorities, attributing the mistake to “inaccurate” legal advice.
In an interview with Sky News on Wednesday, Rayner disclosed that the discovery led her to consider resigning.
“I’ve been in shock, really, because I thought I’d done everything properly,” she said.
“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.”
Rayner is reported to have saved about £40,000 in stamp duty after removing her name from the deeds of a separate property in her constituency, leaving the Hove apartment as her sole property.
She explained that her lawyers had failed to fully consider her circumstances, including a trust fund set up for her disabled son, which resulted in the tax error.
She said, “I did not pay the appropriate stamp duty at the time of the purchase.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed his deputy in parliament on Wednesday, saying he was “proud to sit alongside” her.
Rayner “has explained her personal circumstances in detail. She’s gone over and above in setting out the details,” he said at the House of Commons.
He added that he knew “how difficult that decision was for her and her family, but she did it to ensure that all the information is in the public domain.”
Rayner left school with no qualifications after becoming pregnant at the age of 16.
She is a figurehead of Labour’s left wing and regularly tipped to become leader one day.
