Police to 'reassess' claims Labour MP Angela Rayner broke electoral law with council house

Officers had initially said Angela Rayner would not face an investigation over claims she gave false information about where she was living for the electoral roll. Credit: PA Images

Police are reconsidering claims that Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner broke electoral law over the sale of her council house.

The shadow housing secretary and Ashton-under-Lyne MP has faced questions about whether she paid the right amount of tax on the sale of her former home due to confusion over whether it was her principal residency.

Officers said she would not face an investigation over claims she gave false information about where she was living for the electoral roll, on 12 March.

But Conservatives complained the allegations had not properly been investigated, and Deputy chairman James Daly wrote to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) demanding they reinvestigate.

A GMP Spokesperson said: "We have received a complaint regarding our decision not to investigate an allegation and are in the process of reassessing this decision.

"The complainant will be updated with the outcome of the reassessment in due course."

Angela Rayner says questions about tax affairs were attempt to 'smear' her
The Shadow Housing Secretary Angela Rayner. Credit: PA Images

Concerns were raised about Ms Rayner after a book by former Conservative Party deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, called 'Red Queen? The Unauthorised Biography of Angela Rayner', suggested she failed to properly declare her main residency.

Ms Rayner insists the property in Vicarage Road, Stockport - which she sold in 2015 for a reported £48,500 profit before she entered Parliament - was her "principal property" despite her husband living elsewhere at the time.

Government guidance says tenants can apply to buy their council home through the right-to-buy scheme if it is their "only or main home".

HMRC rules state married couples or civil partners can only count one property as their primary residence.

An unauthorised biography by the former Conservative Party deputy chairman, suggested she failed to properly declare her main residency.

Ms Rayner has maintained the controversy about her tax affairs was "manufactured" in an attempt to smear her.

Speaking to BBC’s Newsnight programme on 21 March, she said: "I’ve been very clear there’s no rules broken. [The Conservatives] tried to manufacture a police investigation.

"[The police] said there’s no issues there. I got tax advice which says there was no capital gains tax. It’s a non-story manufactured to try and smear me."

She added: "I was a home care worker, you know, I didn’t have an accountant.

"I had, as most people would: you put your house on the market, you get a legal conveyancing solicitor, and you get an estate agent.

"But since those allegations were put to me, I got expert tax advice to make sure that I hadn’t done anything wrong."

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