It is the local election issue Labour would rather not talk about. The party’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, is now facing a police investigation into multiple allegations relating to electoral law and capital gains tax, following the sale of her former council house nearly a decade ago. Rayner denies any wrongdoing.
The handling of this episode has left plenty to be desired, ever since questions were first raised in a biography of Rayner by Lord Ashcroft, a former Conservative Party deputy chairman. No doubt the Tories seek electoral advantage in this saga. Rayner is a fierce political campaigner and popular with the public. She has also frequently criticised the Government, from pandemic contracts to Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs.
