The Labour politician has returned to her old job just 10 months after she received a golden handshake
Angela Rayner has returned to her old role as Housing Secretary (Image: Getty)
Angela Rayner is facing demands to hand back the £17,000 payoff she received for quitting as a Cabinet minister last year after returning to her old job. Andy Burnham reappointed Ms Rayner as Housing Secretary after she was cleared by HMRC over her tax affairs.
Her comeback comes around 10 months after she was forced to resign in a row over failing to pay £40,000 stamp duty on a new seaside apartment. Ms Rayner received a £16,876 golden handshake when she left the department in September last year.
Andy Burnham held his first Cabinet meeting today (Image: Getty)
But the Tories are calling on the Ashton-under-Lyne MP to give back the eye-watering sum.
Shadow Housing Secretary Sir James Cleverly told the Daily Mail: “Angela Rayner crusaded against tax avoidance, then avoided tax on her home, tried to cover it up and was forced to resign in disgrace.
“She pocketed a £17,000 reward courtesy of the taxpayer, and now she’s got her old job back courtesy of her mate Andy Burnham, who wants to hike taxes on the family home for everyone else. Rayner should hand back the cash.
“Her reappointment just confirms that there is one rule for Labour, and another for everyone else.”
Ms Rayner confirmed in May that she was cleared of wrongdoing by HMRC in the saga over her tax affairs and had settled the £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty.
A source close to Ms Rayner highlighted how Tory leader Kemi Badenoch received a £7,920 severance payment when she quit Boris Johnson‘s government in July 2022.
She returned to the Cabinet two months later when she was appointed by Mr Johnson’s successor Liz Truss.
Keir Starmer’s final revenge against Andy Burnham exposed by Labour insider
EXCLUSIVE: A dramatic backstage plot by Sir Keir, which blindsided Andy Burnham, has been revealed by a senior Labour source.
Sir Keir Starmer was secretly advised by “Machiavellian” allies linked to Peter Mandelson to resign immediately in a brutal bid to “screw over” Andy Burnham, the Express can reveal. The shocking revelation suggests the former Prime Minister was urged to blindside the Mayor of Greater Manchester the moment his leadership was challenged, denying his fierce rival time to launch a coordinated campaign.
Speaking on the Daily Expresso, host JJ Anisiobi revealed extraordinary new claims about what really went down in the battle for No 10. “My senior Labour source told me that Starmer was advised, despite everything that’s happened […] by people adjacent to Mandelson to – once he was challenged for power by Burnham – get out as soon as possible,” Mr Anisiobi revealed. “Because that is going to absolutely screw Andy Burnham over.”
A dramatic backstage plot by Sir Keir, which blindsided Andy Burnham, has been revealed by a senior Labour source (Image: Daily Express)
Mr Burnham had been planning for a delayed transition (Image: Getty)
According to the claims, Mr Burnham had been planning for a delayed transition in the early autumn, hoping to buy crucial time to assemble his team and build a strong platform.
Mr Anisiobi explained Sir Keir’s strategy: “Do not give him time to make a proper plan. Do not stay till September. Andy Burnham wanted Starmer [to stay] until September at least, so he had three months to come up with a proper plan.
“Starmer was advised: ‘No, if you want to screw him, you want to pay him back. You leave as soon as you can leave.'”
Months of internal feuding, poor polling results and humiliating local election defeats finally brought Sir Keir’s time in Downing Street to an end. Faced with an inevitable leadership challenge and a mutiny among his own MPs, Sir Keir pulled the plug on June 22, officially bowing out of No 10 on July 20.
Sir Keir announced his resignation on June 22 and left No 10 on July 20 (Image: Getty)
His departure paved the way for Andy Burnham. The former Mayor of Greater Manchester had staged his return to Parliament just days earlier, winning the Makerfield by-election to position himself as the party’s saviour. With Sir Keir quitting far earlier than his critics anticipated, Mr Burnham became leader of the Labour Party without any contest.
Upon meeting King Charles at Buckingham Palace to formally accept the invitation to form a Government, Mr Burnham officially became Britain’s 59th prime minister. Speaking outside No 10, he declared his leadership a “circuit-breaker moment” for the nation, pledging to lower the cost of living and decentralise political power across the country.
In reshaping his Cabinet, the Prime Minister appointed former Defence Secretary John Healey as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Ed Miliband as Foreign Secretary, while reappointing Angela Rayner as Housing Secretary and removing prominent Starmer loyalists like Rachel Reeves and David Lammy.
Around 20 million Britons under strict hosepipe bans as 8th water firm curbs use
As restrictions hit huge swathes of Britain, the shock is not the dry lawns but the uneasy sense that this is only the beginning of the squeeze.
Some Brits will no longer be able to water their garden with their hosepipes (Image: Getty)
An alarming 20 million Britons face hosepipe restrictions as our record-breaking summer led eight major water firms to announce bans to safeguard the nation’s precious supply. On Tuesday, Thames Water joined Affinity Water, Anglian Water, Cambridge Water, Southern Water, South East Water, South West Water and Welsh Water to implement hosepipe bans for customers.
Thames Water announced a hosepipe ban for just over 10 million customers, as three heatwaves so far in 2026 have driven a surge in demand due to exceptionally dry, hot weather. The restrictions mean that, from Thursday, hosepipes should not be used for watering gardens or allotments, cleaning cars, filling paddling pools or swimming pools, or cleaning windows.
The water company said its region had seen 40% of average rainfall, and more days at or above 34C this year than ever recorded before.
Nevil Muncaster, director of strategic water resources, said: “We would not be taking this step unless it was necessary to protect water supplies for everyone and the environment.”
The company provides water to customers across parts of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Surrey, the Thames Valley, Greater London, and the surrounding areas.
Anglian Water, which serves most of the East of England, introduced a ban for five million customers on Saturday, July 11, and Affinity Water has also introduced a hosepipe ban for one million customers on 10th July.
South East Water introduced a ban for 2.4 million customers from July 3, and Southern Water has also confirmed that a hosepipe ban will be put in place for the 400,000 customers in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight from Friday, July 10.
Cambridge Water announced a temporary hosepipe ban from 17th July for its 350,000 customers, marking the first time in three decades that it has introduced the restriction; South West Water brought in its ban for a small number of homes in Mid Devon and parts of East Devon on July 14th.
On July 19, 33,000 homes in West Wales were subject to a ban by Welsh Water.
The Environment Agency has warned that large parts of southern, central and eastern England have moved closer to official drought status.
The UK has suffered three heatwaves already this summer (Image: Getty)
Periods of hot weather can push up demand as people consume more water to stay cool and water gardens, while farmers use more for crop irrigation and industries use more for protecting infrastructure from the heat.
Hotter temperatures can also lead to physical pressure on underground water pipes, causing higher rates of bursts and leaks, while the lack of rainfall means very little replenishment for reservoirs.
Thames Water said water use is currently 10% above normal in the Thames Valley and the Home Counties, as well as 7% above normal in London.
Customers are currently using an extra 100 million litres every day – equivalent to adding all the homes in Manchester to the network, the firm added.
Mr Muncaster added: “While there is enough water for essential use, we need to reduce non-essential outdoor demand to keep taps flowing.
“Many customers have already reduced their water use and that support has made a difference. Thank you to everyone who has already changed their daily habits.”
On top of the eight firms already with hosepipe bans, other firms – including Severn Trent, Essex and Suffolk Water, Wessex Water and Portsmouth Water – have urged customers to use water wisely amid the hot weather.
The Environment Agency said six reservoirs are currently classed as having “notably low” levels, including Wimbleball in Somerset, Grafham in Cambridgeshire and Hanningfield in Essex, while Blagdon reservoir in Somerset is classed as being “exceptionally low”.
Meanwhile, only 13% of rivers are classed at normal levels for this time of year, with the Rivers Avon (Hampshire), Cam, Derwent (Yorkshire), Swale, Tone, Wye and Yare currently seeing exceptionally low levels.
This UK reservoir is looking dangerously low (Image: Getty)
Helen Wakeham, chair of the National Drought Group and director of water at the Environment Agency, said: “All sectors are taking action, and we are grateful to the public to make sure there is enough water for everyone this summer.
“We want everyone to stay safe and hydrated during the hot weather but every drop we can save is a drop more for nature and agriculture.”
As of Monday, East Anglia, the West Midlands, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire and London, Wessex, Thames, Solent and the South Downs are in “prolonged dry weather,” the stage before drought.
Rainfall totals for the month of July to date ranged from 9% of the long-term average in north-west England to nothing in east and south-east England, the Met Office said.
The Met Office warns that the rest of July will remain mostly dry with “higher pressure likely to sit to the southwest of the UK, while lower pressure remains more influential to the north.”
On Wednesday, temperatures will peak around 26C in the south and the Midlands, and on Thursday, there could be spots of rain but mainly sunshine and high temperatures hitting 27C in the south west of England.
But into the weekend – especially in northern and western areas – we could see cooler temperatures, clouds and more welcome spots of rain.