Officials deny reports Angela Rayner has hired personal photographer

Labour officials have denied reports that Angela Rayner has hired a vanity photographer, as the party battles a row over donations and freebies for ministers.

The Daily Mail reported that the Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary has hired a photographer to record her work.

It claimed she was the first deputy prime minister to have hired such a member of staff.

But the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said the photographer had been hired to chronicle the work of the department, not just Ms Rayner.

“Many government departments employ official photographers to share the work of the department and ministers with the public,” the department said.

“This is a civil service role and will be part of MHCLG’s communications team.”

The junior civil servant employed in the role is understood to be paid within the grade 7 band, which has a minimum salary of £57,000 a year.

Ms Rayner was not involved in the recruitment process for the photographer, the PA news agency understands.

Reports of the hire came as Labour faced questions about gifts accepted by its senior team.

The Deputy Prime Minister said she understood why people were “frustrated” and “angry” that figures including Sir Keir Starmer had received thousands of pounds in gifts.

But she added these had been “a feature of our politics for a very long time”, arguing that donations were necessary because of the expense of running for office, and stressing the importance of transparency.