Angela Rayner is tonight facing the prospect of a sleaze probe into her controversial property dealings.
The Conservatives lodged a formal request for an investigation into whether the Deputy Prime Minister broke the ministerial code in her purchase of an £800,000 second home.
The move follows an outcry over claims that Ms Rayner avoided £40,000 in stamp duty by telling the taxman that the luxury property in Hove was her main home while telling the Cabinet Office that her primary residence was her family home 260 miles away in Greater Manchester - and while living during the week in a lavish grace and favour apartment in central London, funded by the taxpayer.
Ms Rayner is thought to have paid around £30,000 in stamp duty on the Hove apartment.
But she would have had to pay £70,000 if the flat had been considered a second home because of a punitive tax regime designed to discourage holiday home purchases, which was extended by Rachel Reeves last year.
