The Conservatives have written to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards about a donation to Ms Rayner.
Angela Rayner arriving at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool (Image: PA )
Angela Rayner is facing potential hot water over a donation that saw her use a of luxurious £1.8 million apartment to celebrate New Year in New York.
Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool today the Deputy Prime Minister shed tears of joy as she spoke to party faithful about how she intends to “fix” the Right to Buy housing scheme and make it a “fair system” for taxpayers and tenant.
But away from the adulation of the conference delegates, the Cabinet Minister has faced mounting pressure over her use of a plush US residence let to her by Labour peer and donor Lord Waheed Alli.
Ms Rayner, who denies breaking Commons rules over declaring a stay, said she understood that people were “frustrated” about the emerging donations and gifts stories swirling around top Labour figures, but insisted donations, gifts, and hospitality had been “a feature of our politics for a very long time”.
Now the Telegraph reports that the Conservatives have written to Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, seeking an investigation into Ms Rayner’s use of the swanky New York pad.
Rachel Reeves, Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner have all faced tough questions over donations (Image: Getty )
The publication says the letter claims Ms Rayner has breached the House of Commons’ code of conduct becasue of a “failure to properly register” usage of the flat. It’s reported Ms Rayner shared the flat with former Labour MP Sam Tarry during New Year, but that he was not named on a the parliamentary declaration.
Speaking to BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Ms Rayner said: “I think I followed the rules.
“I get that people are frustrated, in particular the circumstances that we’re in, but donations for gifts and hospitality and monetary donations have been a feature of our politics for a very long time.
“People can look it up and see what people have had donations for, and the transparency is really important.”
Lord Alli is not accused of any wrongdoing, and Ms Rayner denies any rule breach and says the trip was a personal holiday.
Angela Rayner could still face more questions over her use of a New York apartment (Image: Getty )
Questions over Ms Rayner’s acceptance of donations comes as both the Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer have faced pressure over their own willingness to accept gifts, including clothes and designer glasses.
During the election campaign, Sir Keir declared £12,588 in gifts ranging from four Taylor Swift tickets worth £4,000, to Euros final tickets valued at £1,628, and several Arsenal FC match tickets exceeding £6,000 in total.
It has also emerged his Chief of Staff, Sue Gray, is being paid £3,000 more than him, with a wage of £170,000.
Andrew Bowie, the Tory shadow veterans minister, told The Telegraph: “Labour’s hypocrisy is off the scale. They spent years taking the moral high ground and now they’re excusing their freeloading as the done thing.”
According to the newspaper, Ms Rayner did declare to parliamentary authorities the use of Lord Alli’s apartment in Manhattan from December 29, 2023, to January 2, 2024.
However, it’s reported Mr Tarry, then Ilford South MP, was not detailed publicly.
According to the rules, MPs must declare foreign trips which they, or anyone connected to them, undertake if a donor pays for “part or all” of it as a result of “parliamentary or political activities”.
