Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner is now under examination for multiple allegations.
The police investigation launched by Greater Manchester Police is not limited to potential electoral law offences.
The Times reports that police are examining tax matters and other issues on top of the question of whether Rayner gave false information for the electoral register when she lived between two former council houses in Stockport in the 2010s.
While the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne has insisted she lived primarily in her own home, former neighbours said she was living with her husband just over a mile away.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has backed her but said he does not need to see the advice
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Rayner, 44, has pledged to resign if she is found to have committed a crime but has said that she took expert legal and tax advice and was confident she had done nothing wrong.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has backed her but said he does not need to see the advice.
Now, an array of accusations have been levelled against Angela Rayner over her living arrangements in Stockport about ten years ago.
Police confirmed on Tuesday that they are investigating multiple complaints, while council officials are also reviewing Conservative claims she broke the law.
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Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner has been alleged that she broke electoral law
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Firstly, the Labour deputy leader has been alleged that she broke electoral law. She has repeatedly stated that her “principal” property was a council house bought on Vicarage Road in 2007, which remained her main home until she sold it in 2015.
She is accused, however, of living primarily at her then husband’s address in Lowndes Lane. She remained on the electoral roll at Vicarage Road, meaning she was officially living apart from her husband and young boys.
Under electoral rules, voters must register at their permanent home address, and there are penalties for providing false information when registering to vote.
Another issue is the question of if Rayner paid the correct amount of tax when she sold her house on Vicarage Road. She sold the property for £127,500, making a £48,500 profit, after buying it at a 25 per cent discount through the “right to buy” scheme for £79,000 eight years earlier. If this was her main address, as she has claimed, she would not have had to pay capital gains tax (CGT) on the profit.
However, if she had been primarily living at Lowndes Lane and had not made any major improvements to her property in the time that she owned it, taxpayers estimate she would have been liable to pay at most £3,500.
Meanwhile, Stockport Council is assessing questions from the Conservative deputy chairman, James Daly, about what the council tax arrangements were at Vicarage Road.
He has questioned whether, if her brother was living there and she was claiming the 25 per cent discount, that could amount to council tax fraud, which can incur both criminal and civil penalties.
In a letter to the council he said the single-person discount can only be claimed for someone’s sole or main residence, adding that there can only be one adult resident in the dwelling.
Rayner has denied any wrongdoing after seeking tax advice.
Angela Rayner MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, said: “I’ve repeatedly said I would welcome the chance to sit down with the appropriate authorities, including the police and HMRC, to set out the facts and draw a line under this matter. I am completely confident I’ve followed the rules at all times.
“I have always said that integrity and accountability are important in politics. That’s why it’s important that this is urgently looked at, independently and without political interference. I make no apologies for having held Conservative ministers to account in the past. Indeed, the public would rightly expect me to do so as a Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
“We have seen the Tory Party use this playbook before – reporting political opponents to the police during election campaigns to distract from their record. I will say as I did before – if I committed a criminal offence, I would of course do the right thing and step down. The British public deserves politicians who know the rules apply to them.
“The questions raised relate to a time before I was an MP and I have set out my family’s circumstances and taken expert tax and legal advice. I look forward to setting out the facts with the relevant authorities at the earliest opportunity.”
