Police Drop Angela Rayner Council House Investigation
Angela Rayner will face “no further police action” over allegations about her living arrangements, Greater Manchester Police have said.
Labour’s deputy leader had been accused of breaking electoral law by providing the wrong information about where she lived before she was an MP.
The police probe was sparked by a complaint from deputy Tory chairman James Daly, the MP for Bury North.
Rayner had always denied any wrongdoing and said she would stand down from her job if found to have committed an offence.
But in a statement on Tuesday, GMP said after “a thorough, carefully considered and proportionate investigation” it was dropping the matter.
Rayner accused the Tories of “reporting political opponents to the police during election campaigns to distract from their dire record”.
She had been accused of providing the wrong information about her living arrangements after she got married in 2010.
At the time, she lived in an ex-council house in Stockport that she had bought in 2007.
According to a biography of Rayner by former Tory chairman Lord Ashcroft, she was registered on the electoral roll as living at the same address until she sold the property in 2015.
However, she was accused of actually living at her husband’s house nearby, leading to claims that the profit she made on her property should have been subject to capital gains tax.
GMP said: “Following allegations about Angela Rayner MP, Greater Manchester police has completed a thorough, carefully considered and proportionate investigation.
“We have concluded that no further police action will be taken.
“The investigation originated from complaints made by Mr James Daly MP directly to GMP.
“Subsequent further contact with GMP by members of the public, and claims made by individuals featured in media reporting, indicated a strong public interest in the need for allegations to be investigated.
“Matters involving council tax and personal tax do not fall into the jurisdiction of policing.
“GMP has liaised with Stockport council and information about our investigation has been shared with them. Details of our investigation have also been shared with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.”
Rayner said: “I welcome the conclusion of the police investigation, and confirmation that no further action will be taken.
“We have seen the Conservative Party use this playbook before - reporting political opponents to the police during election campaigns to distract from their dire record.
“The public have had enough of these desperate tactics from a Tory government with nothing else to say after 14 years of failure.
“I am grateful to all those who have stood by and supported me and my family. My focus now is squarely on securing the change Britain needs, with the election of a Labour government.”
