𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Angela Rayner has still not paid her £40,000 stamp duty bill after resigning as Deputy Prime Minister and housing secretary in September for not doing so. Despite laying the groundwork for a Labour Party leadership challenge, the bill remains unpaid nearly three months after the tax scandal was revealed.

She has been reported as “on manoeuvres” to replace Keir Starmer by sources close to her, The Telegraph said, even offering MPs roles in a future Cabinet. Meanwhile, the taxman has been left with his outstretched palm empty, as not a penny of her £40,000 stamp duty bill has been paid to HMRC, The Telegraph reports. Sources close to Ms Rayner said that HMRC has yet to send her a final bill. HMRC said it could not comment on an identifiable taxpayer.

Ms Rayner bought the seaside flat in Hove for £800,000 earlier this year but retained an interest in her house in Greater Manchester. Despite this, she claimed the new property in Hove was her only home.

Due to her claim, she only paid £30,000 in stamp duty when she should have paid £70,000, as the Hove flat was her second home.

In her resignation speech in the Commons in September, Ms Rayner said: “I am, of course, corresponding with HM Revenue and Customs, and it has my full co-operation. There is no excuse not to pay taxes owed, and I will do so.”

It is understood that no further developments have been made, and no tax has been paid while the investigation continues.

Ms Rayner’s team initially believed she had done nothing wrong and had paid all the tax due on the property.

However, following further probes, Ms Rayner was forced to admit she had made a “mistake” and had not paid the full amount.

She resigned from all her Cabinet positions on September 6 after Keir Starmer’s ethics adviser said she had failed to meet the “highest possible standards of proper conduct” by failing to obtain proper tax advice.

Despite the political crisis, Ms Rayner’s name is still orbiting the top spot. Health Secretary Wes Streeting called for her return to the front bench, saying “We need her back” at the annual Labour Party conference.

Ms Rayner herself has publicly said she is still eyeing a Cabinet position, telling the Daily Mirror that she had not “gone away” in the wake of the scandal during a constituency visit to a care centre last weekend.

She told the newspaper: “I’m really humbled and I always have been, the people of Ashton-under-Lyne have always supported me.

“The 10 years that I’ve been in Government I’ve had quite a number of front bench positions, and I’ve always brought it back to the people that I was there to represent and having this opportunity now, to be more in the constituency and to champion those views is something that I’m humbled to do and I’m looking forward to the challenge.

“I’ve got a lot of interests like child poverty, the fair pay agreement, and making sure the Employment Rights Bill is carried out in full.”