To her most savage critics – from Tories to the far left – she’s “Rotten Rayner”, a tax evader, freeloader and a “low life… on the make”.

To her trade union friends, she’s a victim of misogyny who right-wing politicians are attempting to hound out because she’s working class.

And after her tearful interview on Sky News, even among some of her political opponents there’s a degree of sympathy for Angela Rayner too.

Politics latest: Why the deputy PM nearly resigned

But amid the rancorous debate among MPs about whether she should stay or go, there’s one part of her defence that is attracting scepticism from friends and foes.

That’s her claim that she was initially given duff advice by a solicitor. Really? If she has evidence to substantiate that, she may be in the clear, though there’d no doubt be accusations of an establishment stitch-up.

But if not – and the city grandee who’s the PM’s ethics adviser – the Eton and Oxford-educated baronet Sir Laurie Magnus – rejects her defence, she’ll almost certainly have to go.

And with her resignation – or sacking – would almost certainly go her hopes of succeeding the increasingly unpopular Sir Keir as Labour leader, despite her popularity with the party’s activists.

When she arrived for Prime Minister’s Questions, just half an hour after her bombshell confession, the Labour high command placed a collective arm around her.

Sir Keir Starmer, who told MPs he was proud to sit alongside a deputy PM from a working-class background, put his hand on her left shoulder.

Badenoch misses an open goal…

Lucy Powell, the leader of the Commons, sitting the other side of the beleaguered Ms Rayner, did the same on her right shoulder.

Rachel Reeves, who also knows all about being beleaguered and shedding tears in public, looked across at her and smiled sympathetically.

If Labour feared a brutal PMQs onslaught from Kemi Badenoch, they needn’t have worried. “Why is she still in office?” the Tory leader began. So far, so good.

“If he had a backbone he would sack her,” she said in the second of her six questions. But that was it. “But let us get back to borrowing,” she continued.

Inexplicably, the Tory leader ploughed on with her pre-prepared questions on government borrowing. Labour MPs couldn’t believe their luck. Cue numerous jokes about missed open goals.

After another dud Kemi-Kaze performance at PMQs, some MPs were even speculating that Ms Rayner’s survival prospects – slim, at best – remain better than those of the Tory leader.

…but others go in studs up

But in the cruel world of social media, Ms Rayner was not spared a vicious onslaught from critics from across the political divide. You’d better keep your phone switched off, Angi.

From the spiky shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel, Ms Rayner was “the property tax dodging, freeloading deputy prime minister” who had “finally admitted breaking the law and evading paying taxes owed”.

There was more. “She says that she’s sorry,” said punchy Priti. “But she’s only sorry that she was caught out. Rotten Rayner should go.”

Nadhim Zahawi, who was sacked as Tory chairman in 2023 after an inquiry found he failed to disclose an investigation into his tax affairs, added: “Did you think about my children Angela Rayner?

“Breaks my heart seeing anybody distressed about their children, but the hypocrisy really does hurt.”

But it wasn’t just Tories – who let’s not forget were denounced as “Scum!” by Ms Rayner back in 2021, in what she described as “street language” – who were brutal.

The acerbic George Galloway declared: “She’s a lowlife”. For good measure, he claimed she was “on the make” and on “Supermarket Sweep, piling her trolley full”.

Read more:
Rayner admits she should have paid more stamp duty
Rayner came out fighting in Sky interview
Rayner’s tax affairs statement in full

However, from the trade union movement, which campaigned hard for the DPM’s workers’ rights legislation, there was unequivocal support.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak told Sky News: “Angela Rayner comes under sustained coverage because she’s a working-class woman in a way that frankly Nigel Farage, leading members of the shadow cabinet, never would.

“I think there’s a real heavy dose of misogyny when it comes to Angela.

“I wouldn’t want to see a hounded out of an important role by right wing politicians and the right wing media who frankly can’t handle the fact that a working class woman is our deputy prime minister.”

There was sympathy from one party leader, Sir Ed Davey of the Liberal Democrats, who said that as a parent of a disabled child “I know the thing my wife and I worry most about is our son’s care after we have gone”.

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Shortly after PMQs, opening a Tory debate on, yes, property taxes, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride opted for ridicule and mockery. “I’m absolutely certain that the deputy prime minister had a good recess,” he began.

“We saw many photographs of her down at the seaside, just off the coast in a rubber dinghy, rather like many of the other photographs over the summer given the reckless policies this government has towards illegal migration.

“She was probably celebrating the acquisition of another property for her property empire, but perhaps also slightly tinged with that nagging doubt as to whether she had indeed paid enough stamp duty.

“Well, we’ll get to the bottom of that in due course.”

Quite so, Mel. We will.

A fight for survival

Let’s also reflect that on Monday Sir Keir Starmer proudly announced: “Phase two of my government starts today.” On Tuesday, he informed MPs, he was “speaking at length” to Ms Rayner. Must have been awkward.

And on Wednesday, the PM had to watch her tearful confession, just minutes before facing MPs in the Commons.

Not a great start to phase two, prime minister. Nor for his embattled and tearful deputy, who’s now fighting for political survival.

Angela Rayner has admitted she did not pay the right amount of stamp duty on the purchase of her second home and has referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards. 

Speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the deputy prime minister became tearful as she claimed she received incorrect tax advice and spoke to her family about “packing it all in”.

Ms Rayner, who is also the housing secretary, has been under scrutiny after a report in The Daily Telegraph claimed she avoided £40,000 in stamp duty on a flat in Hove by removing her name from the deeds of another property in Greater Manchester.

In a lengthy statement released today, she said it was a “complex living arrangement” as her first home was sold to a trust following her divorce to provide stability for her teenage son, who has lifelong disabilities and is the sole beneficiary of the trust.

She said initial legal advice was that the standard rate of stamp duty applied, but following media reports, she sought expert counsel who said more tax is due.

She added that these matters were confidential but she applied to a court yesterday to get this lifted in the interests of public transparency.

In a subsequent interview with Beth Rigby, a visibly upset Ms Rayner said: “I’ve been in shock, really, because I thought I’d done everything properly, and 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.

“That it is devastating for me and the fact that the reason why those confidential clauses were in place was to protect my son, who, through no fault of his own, he’s vulnerable, he’s got this life changing, lifelong conditions and I don’t want him or anything to do with his day-to-day life, to be subjected to that level of scrutiny.”

Asked if she thought about quitting rather than disclose the details about her son, the cabinet minister added: “I spoke to my family about it. I spoke to my ex-husband, who has been an incredibly supportive person because he knows that all I’ve done is try and support my family and help them.”

Allies jump to Rayner’s defence

Her comments came shortly before the first PMQs following the summer recess. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Sir Keir Starmer should fire his deputy.

“If he had backbone, he would sack her,” she said.

However, the prime minister defended Ms Rayner, saying he is “very proud” to sit alongside her.

“She’s gone over and above in setting out the details, including yesterday afternoon asking a court to lift a confidentiality order in relation to her own son,” the prime minister said.

“I am very proud to sit alongside a deputy prime minister who is building 1.5m homes, who is bringing the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation, and has come from a working-class background to become deputy prime minister of this country.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey also came out in support of Ms Rayner, saying as the parent of a disabled child himself he trusts that she was acting in her family’s interests.

“I understand it is normally the role of opposition leaders to jump up and down and call for resignations – as we’ve seen plenty of from the Conservatives already,” he said.

“Obviously if the ethics advisor says Angela Rayner has broken the rules, her position may well become untenable.

“But as a parent of a disabled child, I know the thing my wife and I worry most about is our son’s care after we have gone, so I can completely understand and trust that the deputy prime minister was thinking about the same thing here.

“Perhaps now is a good time to talk about how we look after disabled people and how we can build a more caring country.”

Ms Rayner was also backed by Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the TUC, who told Sky News’ chief political correspondent Jon Craig that he thinks attacks against her are driven by a “heavy dose of misogyny”.

He said: “Angela Rayner comes under sustained coverage because she’s a working-class woman in a way that frankly Nigel Farage, leading members of the shadow cabinet, never would.

“I think there’s a real heavy dose of misogyny when it comes to Angela. As far as I’m concerned, the prime minister’s got faith in her and I think the country’s got faith in her as well.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting also came to her defence, telling BBC Radio 5 Live that she acted in “good faith” and it would be an “absolutely travesty” if she had to resign.

Key points from Rayner statement

In her statement, Ms Rayner said that following the divorce from her husband in 2023, they agreed to a nesting arrangement where their children would remain in their family home, in Ashton-under-Lyne, while they alternated living there.

She said she sold her interest in that home to a trust earlier this year, before buying the property in Hove.

The trust was originally set up in 2020 to manage a payment to one of her sons after a “deeply personal and distressing incident” as a premature baby that left him with lifelong disabilities

The home had been adapted for her son and the sale to the trust was to give him “the security of knowing the home is his”, Ms Rayner said.

She went on to say that she did not own any other home when she bought the flat in Hove, and her understanding “on advice from lawyers, was that my circumstances meant I was liable for the standard rate of stamp duty”.

She added: “However, given the recent allegations in the press I have subsequently sought further advice from a leading tax counsel to review that position and to ensure I am fully compliant with all tax provisions.

“I have now been advised that although I did not own any other property at the time of the purchase, the application of complex deeming provisions which relate to my son’s trust gives rise to additional stamp duty liabilities.”

Ms Rayner said she is working with HMRC to establish what is owed, claiming her arrangements “reflect the reality that family life is rarely straightforward”.

She concluded: “I deeply regret the error that has been made. I am committed to resolving this matter fully and providing the transparency that public service demands.

“It is for that reason I have today referred myself to the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, and will provide him with my fullest cooperation and access to all the information he requires.”

Watch and listen to the full Electoral Dysfunction interview on Wednesday afternoon – www.podfollow.com/electoraldysfunction