Angela Rayner’s back, returning last week to serve as Andy Burnham’s Secretary of Housing, Communities and Local Government (and as a bit of a fashion icon – the new fringe, square glasses and bouclé jacket didn’t go unnoticed).
It’s a far cry from last September, when she was forced to resign from cabinet and from her role as deputy prime minister after it was found that she hadn’t paid the correct stamp duty on her £800,000 Hove flat.
The fallout of this oversight – which centred on tax affairs, but soon rippled out to reach details of a settlement from the NHS awarded to her disabled son – was the prime minister’s ethics adviser’s finding she hadn’t upheld the highest standards of conduct.
After a “really difficult” situation, as Rayner now refers to it, she left the role, stating in her resignation letter, addressed to Sir Keir Starmer, that she “deeply” regretted not getting more advice on her tax situation, but that “I will continue to serve you, our country and the party and movement I love in the weeks, months and years ahead.”
Now, the Prime Minister may have changed, but what has Rayner been up to during her 10 months away from the frontbenches, and how has that prepared her for what comes next?
