‘I’ve been exonerated’: Angela Rayner says HMRC has cleared her over flat stamp duty

'I've been exonerated': Angela Rayner says HMRC has cleared her over flat stamp dutyFormer Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has said she has been cleared by HMRC of wrongdoing over her tax affairs.

She said she had been "exonerated" of the accusation she had "deliberately sought to avoid tax" in a statement on Thursday.

Rayner stood down as deputy prime minister and housing secretary in September 2025 after admitting she underpaid stamp duty on her £800,000 flat in Hove.

Rayner is seen as a potential challenger to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, as he battles to save his premiership following the Labour Party's disastrous local election results.

In an interview with the Guardian, the prime minister's former deputy did not rule out running in any Labour leadership race but said she would not "trigger" a contest.

She said: "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."

The news was first published by the Guardian newspaper and ITV News on Thursday morning.

Speaking to the Guardian about the tax saga that led to her resignation, Rayner said voters had been "left with the impression that I somehow tried to avoid – or worse had been reckless or careless – in my actions".

"Whereas now hopefully people can see that actually it's a really complex area of law," she said.

In her statement Rayner said: "I have always sought to act with integrity, and I believe politicians should be held to high standards – that is why I resigned from government and cooperated fully with HMRC."

In her interview with ITV News journalist Paul Brand, Rayner said she welcomed the HMRC's conclusion that "there wasn't any wrongdoing and that I didn't try to avoid paying tax, and I wasn't careless in the way I conducted myself".

At the time, the prime minister's ethics adviser said Rayner "acted with integrity" but had breached the ministerial code. He said she did get legal advice when buying the property, but failed to seek further expert tax advice as recommended.

On Thursday morning, the former deputy prime minister said: "I set out to pay the correct amount of tax. I took reasonable care and acted in good faith, based on the expert advice I received, and HMRC has accepted this."

She added: "I wanted to ensure that I paid every penny that I owed, and have done so. I am relieved that my family can now move on – and that I can get on with my job."

When scrutiny arose around the former deputy prime minister's tax arrangements, her team initially insisted she had paid the correct amount but as a result of the media scrutiny, sought advice from a senior lawyer.

After receiving the lawyer's final opinion, Rayner acknowledged she had not paid enough tax when buying her East Sussex flat and said the "mistake" came about because she believed it was the only property she owned.

However, due to complex arrangements surrounding a trust for her disabled son, the Hove flat should have been considered to be Rayner's second home – meaning she should have paid an additional £40,000 in stamp duty.

After, Rayner said she had contacted HMRC to work out the additional tax she needed to pay and referred herself for investigation by the prime minister's standards adviser.

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