Britain’s Labour government reportedly suffered another blow on Friday as Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner resigned after admitting she failed to pay tens of thousands in taxes on a luxury home purchase, intensifying the political headwinds facing Prime Minister Keir Starmer only a year into his tenure.
Rayner, who also served as housing minister, conceded she had underpaid nearly £40,000 — about $54,000 — in taxes on a $1.1 million apartment in Hove, southern England.
She acknowledged that she did not seek “appropriate tax advice” at the time of purchase. The government’s ethics adviser determined her actions violated the ministerial code of conduct, forcing one of Labour’s most recognizable figures from office.
In a statement, Rayner said she regretted her mistake, but her exit is widely seen as a serious setback for a Labour Party already struggling to maintain its footing.
Starmer, in a handwritten note, said he was “very sad” to see her step down, even as her departure sets up a potentially fractious race to replace her as deputy leader.
Rayner’s downfall carries symbolic weight. A former trade union official, she was one of the few high-profile ministers with unabashed working-class roots.
She rose from public housing in northern England, became a mother at 16, and climbed union ranks before reaching the top of Labour politics.
Her plainspoken manner and brash attacks — she once called Rishi Sunak a “pint-sized loser” and branded Conservatives “scum” — made her both a star and a lightning rod.
But critics say her scandal reinforces a growing perception of hypocrisy within a Labour government that promised competence and stability after years of Conservative turmoil.
Labour, elected last year with a commanding majority, now finds itself mired in its own missteps. Polling by YouGov shows the party has slipped eight points behind Reform UK, the populist anti-immigration party led by Nigel Farage.
The government has been battered by headlines about its failure to curb illegal migration across the English Channel and its reliance on taxpayer-funded hotels to house asylum seekers.
Waiting lists in Britain’s strained health service remain stubbornly long, while Labour’s economic agenda has drifted into uncertainty after it retreated from planned welfare cuts earlier this year.
Rayner’s resignation prompted a cabinet reshuffle as Starmer attempted to regain control. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, was elevated to deputy prime minister. Yvette Cooper, the former home secretary, will now oversee foreign affairs. Yet critics argue the moves reflect a government scrambling rather than leading.
Starmer’s centrism has already put him at odds with the party’s left wing. He has supported modest spending cuts and new immigration restrictions, policies Rayner was seen as helping to manage internally. Now, outside government, she is expected to amplify left-wing opposition to fiscal restraint. “Rayner could become a focal point for opposition to Starmer both in the party and parliament if, in their eyes, he continues to move his government to the right to counter the surge of Nigel Farage’s reform,” said Mujtaba Rahman of Eurasia Group.
With fresh tax rises anticipated in November and new economic advisers pressing for wealth taxes, Labour faces mounting pressure from all sides.
The resignation of its most outspoken deputy underscores a central reality: a government swept into office promising steadiness is already struggling to hold steady itself.
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