UK Deputy PM Angela Rayner resigns over tax row

London [UK], September 5 (ANI) United Kingdom’s Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner resigned on Friday after admitting to mistakes in paying property tax, a move that has triggered new political trouble for Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Labour Party, CNN reported.

Rayner, who also stepped down as deputy leader of the Labour Party and housing minister, said in her resignation letter that the intense media spotlight had made her role “unbearable.”

“I must also consider the significant toll that the ongoing pressure of the media is taking on my family. While I rightly expect proper scrutiny on me and my life, my family did not choose to have their private lives interrogated and exposed so publicly,” she wrote in her resignation letter.

Her exit has come as Labour, which won a landslide election in July 2024, faces growing pressure from Reform UK, a rising anti-immigration party that has been gaining support in opinion polls, as per CNN.

The controversy erupted after reports that Rayner failed to pay the correct property tax on an apartment she bought earlier this year in Hove, on England’s southern coast.

She claimed the lapse was unintentional and due to poor legal advice. However, critics pointed to her record of attacking Conservative ministers in the past over similar scandals, with right-wing British tabloids calling her a “hypocrite”, according to CNN.

Starmer initially defended his deputy, but his support weakened as public criticism mounted, especially with Britain facing a housing crisis and Labour considering new tax measures.

CNN noted that her departure marks a significant blow for Starmer’s government, which is already battling public discontent and a surge in right-wing opposition. (ANI)

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