Angela Rayner has been facing questions from the Conservatives over her former council house, which she sold before she became an MP. They are asking if she paid capital gains tax, what council tax she paid and even if she committed electoral fraud. Rayner has denied doing anything wrong, and the amounts of money involved are hardly eye-watering – but could it still damage her?
The police have launched an investigation but to many onlookers it is not clear what exactly they are looking into. The Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff looks at how the allegations against Rayner stack up, and how they compare with other recent political financial scandals.
The feature writer Charlotte Edwardes recently interviewed Rayner. She explains how Rayner’s difficult childhood and impressive rise has shaped her politics. From caring for her mother through a serious mental illness to working and studying as a teenage mother, Rayner’s experiences mean she feels she must represent people who have no voice in politics, says Edwardes.
Helen Pidd, the Guardian’s north of England editor, hears why Rayner’s popularity and importance to the Labour party makes her a target for Conservatives. And she goes out and about in Stockport to hear what people in Rayner’s home town think about the row.
Photograph: Darren Staples/Getty Images
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