Fate of ‘Red Queen’ Rayner in hands of ‘quango king’ baronet
The backgrounds of Angela Rayner and Sir Laurie Magnus – the sleaze watchdog who holds her fate in his hands – couldn’t be more different.
Labour’s “Red Queen” is a working-class council house girl who got pregnant at 16. He’s an old Etonian “quango king”, a City grandee and a pillar of the establishment.
He’s so posh he wasn’t awarded his knighthood in the usual way by the Monarch after being nominated by 10 Downing Street. He’s a baronet whose title is hereditary.
But though Sir Laurie’s a proper toff, he’s no pushover and he doesn’t waste time. In 2023 his investigation into former Tory minister Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs took just six days.
Sir Laurie concluded that Mr Zahawi’s conduct had fallen below what was expected from a minister. So the then PM Rishi Sunak sacked him for a “serious breach of the ministerial code”.
This year, Labour minister Tulip Siddiq quit after Sir Laurie said she should have been more alert to “potential reputational risks” of ties to her aunt in an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh.
That inquiry took eight days, so might Sir Laurie’s Angela Rayner probe take about a week? Perhaps, though it has been suggested he’s due to go on holiday on Saturday. So could his report come before then?
Sir Laurie was appointed by Mr Sunak more than eight weeks after he became PM. At the time, there were claims that he was struggling to find a candidate.
That was because the two previous holders of the post, veteran mandarin Sir Alex Allan and former Royal courtier Sir Christopher Geidt, both quit after disagreements with Boris Johnson.
Sir Alex quit in 2020 after finding former home secretary Priti Patel guilty of bullying. But then Mr Johnson declared that she had not breached the ministerial code.
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Angela Rayner admitted to Beth Rigby that she didn’t pay enough tax on a property she bought in Hove.
Sir Christopher, a former private secretary to the Queen, quit in June 2022 after concluding Mr Johnson may have broken ministerial rules over party-gate.
So Mr Sunak turned to Sir Laurie, a former merchant banker who served on half a dozen quangos and whose long business career involved links with disgraced retail tycoon Sir Philip Green and the late tycoon Robert Maxwell.
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
There was immediately controversy because Mr Sunak refused to give Sir Laurie the power to launch his own investigations into allegations or ministerial wrong-doing. That changed when Sir Keir Starmer became PM last year.
But before then, Sir Laurie couldn’t launch his own inquiry into the conduct of Dominic Raab over bullying allegations or Suella Braverman over claims of leaking and ignoring legal advice over asylum.
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Sky’s Paul Kelso breaks down the facts behind Angela Rayner’s stamp duty controversy.
The role of independent adviser on ministerial standards, to give Sir Laurie his official title, was created by Tony Blair in 2006. Ministers can refer themselves for investigation, as Tulip Siddiq and Angela Rayner both did.
Why was Sir Laurie chosen? A senior Square Mile insider told Sky News: “Laurie Magnus is very much a member of the City’s great and the good.”
Sir Laurence Henry Philip Magnus, 3rd Baronet is the third in a baronetcy that dates back to 1917, when it was awarded to an ancestor who represented London University in the House of Commons.
His quango CV includes the chairmanship of Historic England, a former trustee of the conservation charity the Landmark Trust, ex-chair of the National Trust, membership of the Culture Recovery Fund, a trustee of English Heritage Trust and deputy chair of the All Churches Trust.
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Has Rayner tax issues thrown uncertainty over the Starmer project?
As Historic England boss, Sir Laurie entered the row over the tearing down of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol, claiming such statues should not be removed but have “counter-memorials” placed alongside them.
Besides his quango roles, Sir Laurie remains a major figure in the City, as a senior adviser at investment banking group Evercore and chairing two FTSE 250 listed investment trusts.
Which means that the class divide between the old Etonian City grandee and the former shop steward and champion of workers’ rights whose fate is in his hands couldn’t be greater.
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Sir Keir Starmer is reshuffling his cabinet following Angela Rayner’s resignation after admitting she had not paid enough stamp duty on the purchase of a new home.
The prime minister’s former right-hand woman stepped down as deputy prime minister, housing secretary and deputy leader of the Labour Party after standards adviser Sir Laurie Magnus found she had breached the ministerial code.
Politics latest: Reshuffle after Rayner quits
She paid standard stamp duty on a flat she bought in Hove, East Sussex, in May after taking advice that it counted as her only home due to her disabled son’s trust owning the family home in Ashton-under-Lyne – but it was established she should have paid more.
Her resignation has left a hole around the cabinet table, which Sir Keir is now filling.
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The rise and fall of Angela Rayner
It was stressed early on Chancellor Rachel Reeves would remain as chancellor, in an attempt to stop the markets moving.
Read more: The working class mum who left school at 16 and became deputy PM
This is who is moving and where to:
David Lammy – foreign secretary to justice secretary and deputy PM
After flexing his diplomatic muscles with Donald Trump and his deputy JD Vance over the past year, Mr Lammy will now move to the justice brief.
The move is likely to be a blow as the PM had promised, most recently in November, he would be foreign secretary for the whole parliament until 2029.
Although he is no longer holding one of the four great offices of state, he has also been made deputy prime minister, presumably to soften the blow.
Mr Lammy is close to Sir Keir, both as a friend and in his next door constituency, and was seen grinning as he went into Number 10 after being appointed.
David Lammy is now justice secretary and deputy PM. Pic: Reuters
Yvette Cooper – home secretary to foreign secretary
The Labour stalwart had made tackling illegal migration a priority, so the move could be seen as a disappointment for her.
However, she remains in one of the four great offices of state – PM, chancellor, foreign and home.
Yvette Cooper is now foreign secretary
Shabana Mahmood – justice secretary to home secretary
A big promotion, the straight-talking Labour MP will be tasked with tackling the small boats crisis and asylum seeker hotel protests.
She is no stranger to making difficult decisions, deciding to free criminals early to reduce prison overcrowding as justice secretary.
Her move makes it the first time all three great offices of state, after the prime minister, are held by women.
Shabana Mahmood is now home secretary. Pic: PA
Pat McFadden – chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and intergovernmental minister to work and pensions secretary and head of “super ministry”
Often seen as Sir Keir’s “number two”, Mr McFadden will take over a newly formed “super ministry”.
It will include the department for work and pensions and the skills remit of the department for education – taking a large part of Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson’s brief and taking over from Liz Kendall as work and pensions secretary.
While it is not a promotion at first glance, it is a much wider role than he has had as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster – the highest-ranking Cabinet Office minister after the PM.
Pat McFadden is work and pensions secretary and head of the ‘super ministry’. Pic: PA
Darren Jones – chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
It is the second new job in the space of one week for the new chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The close ally of the prime minister was promoted from chief secretary to the Treasury on Monday to chief secretary to the prime minister. And now he gets another new job.
Darren Jones is the new chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Steve Reed – environment secretary to housing secretary
A promotion for the man who has consistently defended the government lifting inheritance tax relief on farmers.
He takes over one of the two major vacancies left by Ms Rayner and will have the massive task of building 1.5 million new homes during this parliament, as promised by the government.
Steve Reed is now housing secretary
Jonathan Reynolds – business and trade secretary to chief whip
A slightly odd move for the MP seen as a steady pair of hands in his business secretary role.
He takes over from Sir Alan Campbell and will now have to hustle Labour MPs to vote with the government – something that has sometimes proved difficult with the current cohort.
Mr Reynolds will also attend cabinet, as is necessary so he can liaise between the party and No 10.
Jonathan Reynolds is the new chief whip
Peter Kyle – science secretary to business and trade secretary
A promotion for Mr Kyle, who is taking over from Jonathan Reynolds.
He is seen as a rising star and impressed Labour MPs when he refused to stand down after suggesting Nigel Farage was on the side of people like Jimmy Savile by opposing the government’s online safety law.
Mr Kyle will be in charge of getting trade deals with other countries over the line.
Peter Kyle is now business and trade secretary
Emma Reynolds – economic secretary to the Treasury to environment secretary
Probably the biggest promotion of the reshuffle, Ms Reynolds is taking on Mr Reed’s role after serving as a junior minister in the Treasury.
She will have to take on farmers and deal with the water companies – a big undertaking.
Emma Reynolds is now environment secretary
Liz Kendall – work and pensions secretary to science, innovation and technology secretary
Pat McFadden has taken her role as work and pensions secretary, while Ms Kendall takes over Peter Kyle’s brief.
He has made AI a major facet of his role so we will wait to see which direction Ms Kendall takes the job in.
Liz Kendall is the new science secretary. Pic: PA
Douglas Alexander – trade policy minister to Scotland secretary
A promotion for the Blair/Brown minister who returned to politics last year after being ousted in 2015 by then 20-year-old SNP MP Mhairi Black.
He takes over from Ian Murray, who has been removed from the cabinet.
Douglas Alexander is the new Scotland secretary
Sir Alan Campbell – Chief whip to Lord President of the Council and leader of the House of Commons
An MP since 1997 and part of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s frontbench, Sir Alan is taking over Lucy Powell’s role.
He will be in charge of organising government business in the Commons – a sizeable job.
Who is out?
Lucy Powell has been sacked as leader of the House of Commons.
Ian Murray has been sacked as Scotland secretary.
Bridget Phillipson remains as education secretary but her brief has narrowed as Mr McFadden has taken over the skills part of her job.
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