Angela Rayner’s neighbours yet to be contacted by police over council house row
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Neighbours of Angela Rayner have not been contacted by police reviewing a decision not to investigate claims she may have broken electoral law, it has emerged.
The deputy Labour leader was reported to Greater Manchester Police by James Daly, a Conservative MP, over concerns she may have committed an offence in the early 2010’s by giving false information about where she was living.
The force said in March that Ms Rayner would not face an investigation.
However, following a complaint from Mr Daly that officers appeared not to have contacted witnesses or looked at the electoral roll, deeds and other relevant documents, GMP later announced it would reassess its decision.
When The Telegraph approached neighbours on two streets where Ms Rayner owned property, none had been contacted by police over the allegations.
While some residents had moved out, there were still a number who lived there at the relevant time and not one had spoken to detectives regarding the allegations.
The police investigation centres on the fact that if Rayner was registered on the electoral roll at a property she owns, she may have committed an offence if she was living at her husband’s home at the time.
Under electoral rules voters are expected to register at their permanent address.
Neighbours have previously said they were adamant that she lived “full-time” at his terraced home for about six years.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police 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.”
The story – which emerged in an unauthorised biography by the former Tory peer Lord Ashcroft – has led to Ms Rayner facing calls to explain why she did not pay capital gains tax of up to £1,500 on her Vicarage Road property when she sold it in March 2015.
The book alleged that she purchased the house for £79,000 using the Right to Buy scheme in January 2007.
She paid bills and council tax and was registered to vote at the address. If it was her primary residence, she would have been exempt from the levy when she sold it in March 2015 for £127,500.
However, there have been claims that she was primarily living at a property about a mile away, in Lowndes Lane, after marrying Mark Rayner in 2010.
The Conservative Party has demanded that Ms Rayner publish the tax advice she says she received, which she has so far refused to do.
She said she would be prepared to hand over that information, if necessary, to either HM Revenue & Customs or the police.
Ms Rayner has previously said the row was manufactured in an attempt to “smear” her ahead of a likely Labour general election victory.
The part of Stockport in which Ms Rayner resided, falls under the jurisdiction of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
Mayor Andy Burnham and his deputy Kate Green act as effective police and crime commissioners (PCC) for the area.
The role of a PCC is to be “the voice of the people and hold the police to account”.
They have been contacted for comment regarding the ongoing police review.
Need for straight answers
On Wednesday, Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, demanded that Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Rayner give “straight” answers on the controversy.
It also emerged that Ms Rayner had written to Amanda Milling, the then Tory chairman, in 2021, during the Hartlepool by-election campaign, regarding a Tory candidate’s husband spending time in the Cayman Islands.
She wrote: “I am writing to you for the second time in a matter of days to raise serious concerns about the Conservative Party’s campaign in the Hartlepool by-election.
“It is being reported that your candidate Jill Mortimer spent time living in a tax haven where her former husband worked as a banker. Mrs Mortimer had already admitted she has not ‘spent a lot of time’ in Hartlepool.”
She then asked a series of questions for Mr and Mrs Mortimer to answer about their finances.
“Did they gain any tax advantage from living there – and did she or he advise others of the tax advantages of setting up or living in the Cayman Islands?
“In the interests of transparency, will you now publish a full account of Jill Mortimer’s time in the Cayman Islands? Will you also order Jill Mortimer to publish in full her tax returns covering that period?”
