The Greater Manchester Police has announced it is taking no further action over allegations concerning Angela Rayner’s living arrangements before she was an MP.
Labour’s deputy leader had faced questions about whether she paid the right amount of tax on the 2015 sale of her ex-council house due to confusion over whether it was her principal residency.
After originally saying Rayner would not face an investigation over claims she gave false information about where she was living for the electoral roll, the GMP launched a probe in April following “a reassessment of the information provided to us by Mr Daly.”
James Daly is the Conservative MP for Bury North and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.
The issue had centred on what house Rayner used as her primary address 10 years ago. The Labour deputy leader said it was an ex-council house she used to own on Vicarage Road in Stockport, which she bought in 2007.
But she faced accusations she lived primarily at her then husband’s address in Lowndes Lane, just over a mile away.
Daly had told the force that claims by her neighbours appeared to contradict her comments that she lived in her Vicarage Road main residence.
Rayner had promised to step down if she was found to have committed a criminal offence, and insisted she had followed the rules at all times.
Upon the investigation being dropped, a GMP spokesperson said that matters involving council tax and and personal tax do not fall under their jurisdiction.
A statement by the force said: “Following allegations about Angela Rayner MP, Greater Manchester Police has completed a thorough, carefully considered and proportionate investigation.
“We have concluded that no further police action will be taken. The investigation originated from complaints made by Mr James Daly MP directly to GMP.
“Subsequent further contact with GMP by members of the public, and claims made by individuals featured in media reporting, indicated a strong public interest in the need for allegations to be investigated.
“Matters involving council tax and personal tax do not fall into the jurisdiction of policing.
“GMP has liaised with Stockport Council and information about our investigation has been shared with them. Details of our investigation have also been shared with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).”
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