Angela Rayner Has Managed To Trigger The Tories By Buying A House

Angela Rayner has somehow managed to trigger the Conservatives by buying a house.

The deputy prime minister paid more than £700,000 for a seafront property near Brighton, it was reported on Sunday.

It has become the second home that she owns, as she also has a house in Ashton-under-Lyne in her constituency.

As deputy PM, she also has use of her grace-and-favour property, Admiralty House.

There is no suggestion at all that Rayner, who is from a working class background and grew up in poverty, has broken any rules.

But despite seemingly being in favour of aspiration and home ownership, the Tories have gone into a meltdown over the story.

Shadow housing secretary James Cleverly said: “Angela Rayner is responsible for housing policy, yet she won’t even be straight about her own.

“Time and again she’s been asked to declare exactly what properties she owns and where she pays council tax, and time and again she has dodged those questions.

“Now we find out she’s got three homes. We’ve done everything possible to get answers, but she still refuses to come clean.

“That matters, because this is the same Deputy Prime Minister who has hiked taxes on family homes across the country.

“If she’s not prepared to be open about her own affairs while taxing everyone else heavily, the public will wonder what she has to hide.”

Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake dubbed Rayner “three pads Ange”, and accused her of dodging his questions on whether she pays council tax on the Admiralty House property.

A source close to Rayner told HuffPost UK: “Angela’s work means she’s often had to be in and around London for over a decade now, but had always rented a flat for that purpose.”

It is understood that council tax on Admiralty House is administered by the Cabinet Office and Westminster Council, which has also been the case for previous ministers.