HM Revenue and Customs has cleared Angela Rayner of deliberate wrongdoing or carelessness over her tax affairs, lifting a cloud that had hung over her since she was forced to resign from the cabinet last September. The tax authority was satisfied there had been no tax avoidance, and Rayner did not pay any penalty after settling £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty that she had initially paid at the lower rate.
The ruling matters because it removes one of the main obstacles to her return to frontline politics at a moment when Labour is edging toward open warfare. Rayner said she had been “bruised” by the episode, especially by the intrusion into her disabled son’s personal life, but made clear she was not stepping away from the party’s future. She said she may run if there is a leadership contest and that she wanted to “play my part”.
Her comments came as pressure on Keir Starmer sharpened and Wes Streeting prepared to launch a leadership challenge on Thursday if he and his allies could gather enough MPs to force a contest. On the left of the party, Rayner and Ed Miliband were being spoken of as possible contenders, though Andy Burnham cannot stand from outside parliament. Rayner ruled out mounting a coup herself, saying, “I’ve made it clear that I wasn’t going to trigger the prime minister – and that I want to see change. I want to see actions, not just words.”
That leaves the party with a clear clash of temperament as much as policy. Rayner said she was not “in it for myself” and argued that the party needed to pull together rather than tear itself apart. “I’ll play my part in doing everything we possibly can to deliver the change, because it’s not a personal ambition, I know the difference it makes,” she said, adding that “whatever role I can play, I will keep pushing and pushing hard because I want the people out there at the moment who are really struggling … to know that I’m putting all my energy into fighting for them.”
She also signaled that the question is no longer only whether Starmer can survive the pressure, but whether he should. “I don’t think it’s a case of each person for themselves, but I do think it’s a case of people seeing how they can pull the party together and have the vision to take us forward. You have to play your role as part of a team,” she said. On Starmer’s future, she was blunt: “Keir will have to reflect on that.” She added that “the pace of change hasn’t been enough for voters to see, and also mistakes have really blown us off course and made voters doubt us.”
The HMRC investigation had shadowed Rayner since she left government, and its conclusion now gives her the chance to re-enter the race without the tax affair hanging over her. But the same resolution also sharpens the political pressure around her. If Labour does move into a leadership contest, her stance suggests she will not start it, but she will not stay on the sidelines either.
